Avatar: The Last Airbender (Book Three Fire)
by KayleyK1472
Summary: The 3rd and final book is up and ready to go ) It's been an amazing expierience and I hope to write more things like this in the future. Thank you for all the love in support!
1. Chapter 1: The Awakening

Odette:

Pain.  
That's all I felt. Even though I was awaking, slowly, I couldn't move a muscle. I kept my eyes closed and just laid still, praying that the pain would go away. It never did.  
I cracked open my eyes and even that movement hurt, sending pain radiating out over my face, I felt like I had been punched in the face, crushed by a rock, and drowned in the ocean.  
I sat up and groaned and noticed dimly that bandages covered my arms and abdomen.  
I stared at the floor, my vision blurry and my head swaying as I sat on the bed.  
I clutched my stomach where I felt the most intense pain.  
"What happened?"  
I looked to the side and I realized that I was inside a room on a Fire Nation ship. My head snapped over to a banner on the wall as I felt my heart kick into overdrive. I turned around and saw the large tapestry with the Fire Nation insignia hanging on the wall behind me.  
"Oh no!" I gasped.  
Ren must have caught me after I'd fallen unconscious. We were probably on our way tot eh Fire Nation right about now. What had happened to Alana and Elise, Kole and Fang and Emrys? The Earth King!  
Panicking, I scrambled off the bed and dashed to the room's door. The metal latch squeaked as I opened it and I winced slightly as I peered outside.  
I slowly hobbled down it the dimly lit hallway, teetering from side to side while using my staff and the wall for support as pain lashed through me. I came to a corner and looked around it to see two Fire Nation soldiers, one very tall and carrying a club, and the other very tiny.  
"You hear something?" the tall one said.  
I gasped and put my back to the wall before turning the corner and swinging my staff and bending a strong gust of wind at the soldiers. The soldiers shielded ourselves from the attack and I ran down the corridor.  
"She's awake!" the tall one yelled.  
I desperately tried to get away from the soldiers, still using my staff for support as my breathing came in ragged, choppy gasped. The soldiers rounded the corner and followed after me closely.  
"Stop, wait!" the soldier called after me.  
Yeah right.  
I tried to escape frantically and I shot a look back at the soldiers. I came to a small flight of stairs leading to the deck and climbed up hurriedly. I tried to jump off the steps and onto the deck but instead fell down, my strength evading me.  
I lost my grip on my staff and it slid across the deck. The dark sky indicated that it was night. I looked up in terror as my only weapon slid and came to a stop in front of Kodah, Cato, and Fang. Kodah and Cato were dressed as Fire Nation soldiers and Fang was having his chin scratched by Kodah. They looked down at the staff and I stared up at them with a surprised look on my face.  
"Fang?" I gasped, breathing hard as pain ripped through my sides. My heart felt like it was ready to burst from my chest from the fear.  
Fang, Kodah, and Cato all turned and looked at me in surprise. Fang barked happily and leaped towards me. Wincing, I picked myself off the floor as Fang jumped up to me and licked my arm and hand, wagging his tail a mile a minute.  
"Twinkle-Toes, that's got to be you," I heard Elise say.  
I turned and saw Kole and her running towards me excitedly. I shook my spinning head and saw that Kole, Elise, Kodah, Cato, and a shorter Fire Nation soldier were all wearing firebender armor. Elise, Kole, and the tiny Fire Nation soldier, who was actually The Duke, walked over while the tall Fire Nation soldier, who was actually Pipsqueak, ran.  
"Odette, you're awake!" Kole said, beaming with happiness and relief.  
"Are you sure?" I mumbled and rubbed my eyes. "I feel like I'm dreaming."  
I was caught off guard when Kole ran up and embraced me tightly, folding me against his chest securely.  
"You're not dreaming. You're finally awake," he said, sounding like he could pass out from relief. He let go and another person dressed as a Fire Nation soldier walked up to me and gave me a quick hug.  
"Odette, good to see you back with the living, buddy," Alana said.  
I blinked confused, my head spinning again. "Alana?"  
I looked around, very exhausted and confused. My stomach became very queasy and the world started to spin around me as I started to faint.  
Elise jumped forward. "Uh-oh! Somebody catch her, she's gonna…"  
Kole ran to catch me but missed and I fell. The last thing I heard was the sound of my limp body hitting the wooden deck.  
A few minutes - or hours - later, I found myself looking up towards the night sky.  
"Ughh," I groaned, holding my throbbing head.  
All of my friends were gathered around me, looking down in concern. Emrys's head poked into view and she growled softly.  
This day, or night or whatever time it was, was not going well.

Ren:

Love is like war… Easy to start, difficult to finish, and impossible to forget.  
I was on a royal Fire Nation ship as it rushed through the sea past a mountain. It had been almost four weeks since we'd left Eralith, a few days after we'd conquered it. Throughout my time in the city, my hair had grown out into a shaggy hairstyle. Instead of cutting it, I left it alone, and it was now still the same only a little longer, just reaching the bottom of my jaw.  
I stood at the edge of the deck, looking out grimly over the ocean. The moon shined brightly through the clouds.  
I had made a terrible mistake. Odette was gone and it was because I had been too stupid and scared to stand up to my father and Athera. I could have still gotten my throne back if I had chosen Uncle. And instead of regaining my honor, I was pretty sure I had lost it.  
I heard who could only be Naveen walked over to me.  
Oh great, the big blah. Ever since we had gotten on the return ship home three weeks ago, she had been really clingy to me, walked around, acting like we were suddenly a couple. I had not even the slightest interest in her, but with Odette gone, she was a good shoulder to lean on to cushion the blow of loosing her, even thought I'd never really had her.  
As Naveen approached I internally winced. I wished she would have just left me alone, but oh well, she could take my mind off Odette, at least for a while…even if she did practically bore me to death.  
"Aren't you cold?" she asked in her usual dull voice that made me want to jump headfirst overboard.  
"I've got a lot on my mind. It's been so long. Over three years since I was home. I wonder what's changed. I wonder how I've changed," I said honestly.  
Naveen sighed. "I just asked if you were cold. I didn't ask for your whole life story."  
She smiled and wrapped her slender arms around me. "Stop worrying."  
Naveen pulled my face closer, sharing a kiss with me. I kissed her back, just to keep up pretenses as Odette's face flashed behind me closed eyes.  
Naveen let go of me and walked off, back to her cabin. She could tell when I wasn't in the mood for her company.  
I closed my eyes and stared out over dark waters.

Odette:

"Why are we on a Fire Nation ship? Why is everyone dressed this way? And why am I the only one out of it?" I asked, looking around at everyone.  
Kole and I sat on the deck in front of Emrys as I was given a red robe by someone is disguise.  
Kole looked at me worriedly. "You need to take it easy, okay? You got hurt pretty bad. I like your hair."  
He glanced up and smiled in amusement.  
Shocked, I reached up and felt my scalp. From what I could tell it was sticking up everywhere like a gigantic tumbleweed. "Well that's going to be fun to comb out. How long was I out?  
Kole shrugged. "A few weeks."  
Kodah over just then and I blinked up, laying my eyes for the first time on Alana and Kole's father. He was tall and lean, well fit for a middle aged man. His eyes were exactly like theirs, the same startling blue color and his hair was just as dark. His skin was tanned and hardened and his face was strong but arm and welcoming at the same time.  
Kodah looked down, smiling at me as he rested a hand on his son's shoulders. "Everything ok?"  
Kole looked away bitterly. "We're fine, Dad."  
Kodah offered me his hand. "I'm Kodah, Kole and Alana's father."  
"She knows who you are. I just called you "Dad", didn't I?" Kole snapped, annoyed.  
Kodah's face fell sadly. "I guess you're right."  
"Nice to officially meet you, Chief Kodah," I said with a smile and offered my hand.  
Kodah grabbed my arm in greeting. "It's an honor to meet you."  
Kole looked back, still annoyed. "Great, great. Now you guys have finally met, so would you mind giving us a little privacy?"  
Kodah sighed and walked off. "Of course."  
I watched him go as he knelt down and petted Fang before turning back to his son.  
"Are you mad at your dad or something?" I asked.  
"What? Not at all, why would you say that?" he asked, confused.  
"Mmm-emmm," I said and shrugged, but almost immediately groaned and held my side in pain.  
Kole touched my knee worriedly. "Maybe we should go upstairs. You need a healing session."  
Kole helped me to my feet and we hobbled away slowly.  
Back in my room, Kole worked on my back and focused on the scar left by Athera's lightning. I sat cross legged on a short platform. Kole was standing behind me and bended the water out of two bowls on either side of me and placed the water onto my wound.  
"Tell me where your pain feels most intense," he said. My eyes were squeezed shut and I gave a soft grunt of pain as the water touched me.  
It was going to get a lot worse. "A little higher."  
he moved higher and I went stiff, my vision flashing white as I remembered what had happened to me. Athera shooting me…Ren watching…  
"Wow, you are definitely in the right area there," I winced.  
"I can feel a lot of energy twisted up around there. Let me just see if I can…"  
Kole pulled the healing water up and away from my scar. I arched my back painfully and the world flashed before cutting to a flashback of me being hit by lightning in the Avatar state then Kole holding my body on Emrys. The flashback faded and I retuned to the real world, recovering from the shock.  
"I went down! I didn't just get hurt, did I? It was worse than that. I was gone. But you brought me back," I gasped, shocked.  
He had actually done it…Ren had actually let Athera kill me. I had been so incredibly stupid…I had fallen in love with someone who I'd thought I could fix and obviously he wasn't going to change for anyone. I felt tears come to my eyes as I realized he would rather have me dead that be in the same room with me. What I had thought had been a connection back in the prison had been a trick…and I'd fallen for it. I didn't care so much that he hadn't done anything to stop her…it was the other part that was making me feel like I'd just been kicked in the gut.  
What he did to me hurt, but realizing that he didn't love me killed me inside and broke my heart into a thousand pieces.  
I shook my head as Kole spoke. "I just used the spirit water from the North Pole. I don't know what I did, exactly."  
I smiled at him slightly, truly grateful that he had been there. "You saved me."  
Kole placed a hand on my cheek. "You need to rest."

Ren:

At the Fire Nation capital city, Ella and Ava - Athera's advisors - were seated on top of a very high balcony at the royal plaza facing a large crowd of Fire Nation citizens. Behind them was a large archway filled with flames.  
"Your Princess Athera, clever and beautiful, disguised herself as the enemy and entered the Earth Kingdom's capital. In Eralith she found her brother, Ren, and together, they faced the Avatar. And the Avatar fell, and the Earth Kingdom fell," the two old geezers said in unison.  
…I flashed back to when the Dai Li stood at the top of Eralith's outer wall….  
As I remembered, Ava and Ella continued to speak. "Athera's agents quickly overtook the entire city. They went to Eralith's Great Walls, and brought them down!"  
…In my mind, I watched as the Dai Li jumped off and began sliding down the die of the wall, using earthbending to weaken it. The Dai Li agents landed on the ground and sprang forward, slamming their gloved fists into the wall and causing a large section of it to collapse…  
"The armies of the Fire Nation surged through the wall and swarmed over Eralith, securing our victory."  
…Fire Nation soldiers marched past the tea shop in the outer ring. A man peeked through the doorway and chewed his fingernails in fear. Soldiers rode komodo rhinos through the streets. Tanks drove up to the Earth King's palace…  
I shook my head and tried to pay more attention to the ceremony.  
"Now the heroes have returned home. Your princess, Athera!" the twins cried out.  
Athera walked towards the edge of the balcony and the crowd cheered for her wildly.  
"And after three long years, your prince has returned. Ren!"  
Okay…here we go.  
I walked out onto the balcony and faced the crowd. The Fire Nation citizens cheered for me even louder than they had for Athera. I had always been the favored one, mostly because I was next in line and not Athera.  
Sullenly, I gazed out over the crowd.

Odette:

The Fire Nation ship glided through the water. Alana was sitting on top of a crate on the deck, surrounded by the rest of her friends and family. We were all eating bowls of noodles and bringing me up-to-date on everything that had happened.  
"After what happened in Eralith, we had to get you to safety," Alana said. "We flew back to Chameleon Bay, where we found my father and the other Water Tribe men. The Earth King decided he wanted to travel the world in disguise, so he set off alone."  
She paused and then smiled slightly. "Well, not completely alone. Soon, the bay was overrun with Fire Nation ships. Rather than fight them all, we captured a single ship and made it our disguise. Since then, we've been traveling west. We crossed through The Serpent's Pass a few days ago. We've seen a few Fire Nation ships, but none have bothered us."  
I nodded and ran a hand through my now brushed hair. "So, what now?"  
Kodah spoke up. "We've been working on a modified version of the invasion plan."  
Kole rolled his eyes, annoyed. "It's Alana's invasion plan."  
"Yes, Alana's plan. We won't be able to mount a massive invasion without the Earth King's armies, but the solar eclipse will still leave the Fire Nation vulnerable," Kodah said, ignoring Kole's rudeness.  
Alana smiled proudly. "So we're planning a smaller invasion. Just a ragtag team of our friends and allies from around the Earth Kingdom. We already ran into Pipsqueak and The Duke.  
Pipsqueak grinned with The Duke seated on his shoulders.  
"Good to see you again, Odette," Pipsqueak said.  
"And the best part is, the eclipse isn't even our biggest advantage," Alana said, leaning towards me and whispering. "We have a secret…You!"  
I started. "Me?"  
"Yep, the whole world thinks you're dead!" she said and stood up and raised her arms triumphantly. "Isn't that great?!"  
Shock was plastered on my face as I stared at her, dumbfounded. I didn't move for a few moments, too stunned to say or do anything.  
Then I started shaking. Getting up, I walked a few paces away and looked over the side of the ship.  
"The world thinks I'm dead? How is that good news? That's terrible!" I said finally.  
Alana shook her head and came up beside me. "No, it's great. It means the Fire Nation won't be hunting us anymore. And even better, they won't expect you on The Day of Black Sun."  
Had she lost her mind! "No, no, no, no, no. You have no idea. This is so messed up!"  
People were going to lose hope. Instead of fighting back like they had been, they would just give up, and the Fire Nation roll right over them  
The horn of another ship suddenly blared and Alana and I looked over. Another Fire Nation ship approached up ahead.  
I looked at it in determination. "I'll handle this. The Avatar is back!"  
I grabbed my glider staff and slammed it on the floor, opening its wings. Though I tried to hide it, the movement caused me to flinch in pain and I clutched my side. Bearing through it, I grabbed the glider's wings and prepared to take off.  
Kole stopped me. "Odette, wait. Remember, they don't know we're not Fire Nation."  
Sweating heavily with pain and rage, I reluctantly folded my glider up.  
"Everyone just stay calm. Cato and I will take care of this," Kodah said.  
Cato and Kodah donned their Fire Nation helmets. Pipsqueak lifted up The Duke, who was wrapped in a large piece of tarp. He threw The Duke over Emrys, who was sitting in a cargo pit, letting the tarp unravel and cover the dragon. Fang jumped into the pit with Emrys. Elise and I crouched inside the stairway leading below the deck. Kole and Alana joined us.  
"I hate not being able to do anything," I whispered.  
If I could do something I'd go find Ren and wring his lying -  
Elise patted my shoulder lightly. "Hopefully, you won't need to."  
The ships stopped parallel to each other. A bridge lowered across the gap between the two. A Fire Nation officer crossed the ship, two more Fire Nation soldiers following closely behind. As he walked up to Cato and Kodah, they glanced at each other uneasily. As the officer setting foot on the ship, Kodah bowed to him.  
"Commander, why are you off course? All Western Fleet ships are supposed to be moving toward Eralith to support the occupation," the officer said.  
"Actually, we're from the Eastern Fleet. We have orders to deliver some cargo," Kodah said smoothly.  
The Fire Nation Officer narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "Ah, Eastern Fleet. Well, nice of Admiral Trey to let us know he was sending one of his ships our way."  
Cato smiled. "I am sure Admiral Trey meant no disrespect, sir."  
"I mean, how hard is it to write a quick note and send a hawk our way?" the officer said.  
Kodah shrugged. "Next time, we'll send two hawks to be sure you get the message."  
Kodah and the officer bowed to each other before Cato and Kodah walked off.  
The officer and the soldiers began to walk back across the bridge. Elise tilted the side of her head toward them, listening to the officer and then looking shocked when she heard something that apparently did not settle well with her. Elise climbed out of the stairway and pointed at the officer.  
"They know!" she shouted.  
Elise thrust her hand towards the floor, grabbing the metal and twisting it.  
Whoa, when did she learn to do that!  
Elise bended a fissure in the metal leading all the way up to the bridge. The bridge buckled, and the officer and the soldiers lost their balance just as the bridge fell out from underneath them. The soldiers and officer, yelling in fear, fell into the water below.  
Kole jumped into action and bended a small mountain of water up between the ships. He turned in a circle and thrust his arms forward. The water slammed into the side of the other ship, knocking it back several yards as the water washed onto the enemy ship's deck. Our stolen Fire Nation ship began to make its escape. At the water's level, a rope ladder was tossed over the side of the Fire Nation ship to the officer and the soldiers floating in the sea, which the officer grabbed and began to climb.

Ren:

I sat at the edge of the turtle duck pond at the Fire Nation capital, the same spot where I had sat with my mother so many years ago. I tore a bread bun in half before throwing it into the pond. A mother turtle duck and its ducklings swam up to the floating bread and fed on it. Athera's shadow passed over the turtle ducks, scaring them off. She stood in front of me with the turtle ducks swimming off and quacking in fright.  
I would have too.  
She cocked her head to the side, hands on her slender hips as she stared at me through calculating golden-brown eyes. "You seem so downcast. Has Naveen gotten to you already? Though actually, Naveen has been in a strangely good mood lately."  
"I haven't seen Dad yet. I haven't seen him in three years, since I was banished," I said.  
He didn't want to see me. I know it was a lie when they said he would be proud…I had always been a disgrace to him, why should my homecoming change anything?  
Athera frowned. "So what?"  
"So, I didn't capture the Avatar."  
Athera gestured. "Who cares? The Avatar's dead. Unless you think she somehow miraculously survived."  
I looked down and away from Athera.  
I thought back to Odette, holding the spirit oasis water during our time in the crystal catacombs.  
…'This is water from the Spirit Oasis, at the North Pole. It has special properties, so I've been saving it for something important…'  
I winced, my chest hurting as I realized my mistake. "No. There's no way she could've survived."  
Athera stared me down and I matched her with a glare.  
After a moment, she smiled a creepy smile and shrugged. "Well, then I'm sure you have nothing to worry about."  
Athera left me alone and walked off. As soon as she was gone I stood in despair.  
Odette wasn't dead. She was very much alive…I could feel it in the pit of my stomach. Kole must have used the water and brought her back. I had been such a fool.  
I was glad she was alive…but now I was in trouble. My father and Athera would come after me for this…and there would be no banishment. There would be no escaping this time. I had to stop that from happening before it was too late.  
Odette may have survived Athera…but she would fall before me.

Kole:

I watched as a fire bender ignited an oil covered rock loaded onto a trebuchet. The trebuchet was fired and the flaming ammo was flung into the air towards our stolen Fire Nation ship. The ignited boulder hit the water, just missing the stolen ship. The Fire Nation ship fired again and the flaming boulder hit the hull. Everyone on the ship tried to regain their balance as it tipped. Elise entered an earthbending stance as The Duke stood behind her.  
"Load the Elise!" she cried.  
Pipsqueak heaved a big stone disc over his head. He set the disc in front of Elise and she took two steps forward, slamming her left foot into the floor and popping the disc into the air in front of her. She turned and shoved the stone disc with her palms, shooting it at the enemy ship. The stone disc flew across the water towards the Fire Nation ship and hit the trebuchet, demolishing it.  
Another trebuchet was fired and Elise launched another disc. Between the two ships, the flaming boulder and the stone disc collided in the air and exploded.  
Odette and Alana were hiding inside the hall leading to the bridge, both on either side of the doorway leading out to the deck. Outside, a fireball hit the water and caused a big splash. Odette attempted to run out and help in the battle, but Alana grabbed her shoulders and shook her head, stopping Odette. Odette went back to her hiding spot and knocked her head against her staff in frustration. I turned back to a ballista on the enemy Fire Nation ship pointing downwards and firing. The chained, metal projectile shot into the water and punctured the hull of the stolen ship. The inside of the hull was pierced by the projectile, causing a huge leak.  
Water began to rush in. The chain connected to the projectile was pulled taught and then pulled out, expanding the breach and flooding the hull even more. At the edge of the deck, I looked down at the breach. I waved my arms upwards and pushed my palms down and exhaled freezing mist towards the hole in the hull. The mist descended down the ship toward the breach. The hole froze over, preventing any further damage.  
"I'm gonna give us some cover!" I yelled.  
I pressed my arms down, pushing down the water between the two ships. A cloud of mist formed and rose up from the surface of the water. I lifted my arms up and bended a huge cloud of mist into the air and pushed my arms out, making the mist float behind our stolen ship, clouding the view. The mist engulfed both our ships. Elise, The Duke, Cato and Kodah on deck all ran when a fireball pierced through the mist.  
Pipsqueak was standing by a load of stone discs. He dropped the disc he was holding and ran away just before the fireball smashed into the pile of discs. I looked back worriedly at Odette and Alana who were still hiding. They were both shaken by the last attack as the debris and smoke flew past the doorway.  
"I can't just stand by and do nothing!" Odette rushed outside.  
"Odette! No!" Alana shouted and grabbed Odette's staff.  
Odette glared at her furiously but she insisted. "You're still hurt, and you have to stay secret. Just let us handle this."  
"Fine!" Odette angrily snatched her staff away from Alana and stormed off. There was another explosion and Alana was caught in a wave of smoke. The ships exited the mist cloud and another fireball was fired from the enemy ship and it hit the back end of our stolen ship's deck. I shielded myself from the attack and bended water up from below and threw it at the fire, extinguishing it.  
"How we doing?" Elise asked.  
Alana shrugged. "Things couldn't get much worse."  
Suddenly, the giant serpent from The Serpent's Pass burst from the water behind Alana. As the serpent towered over the ship and screeched, Alana, Elise, and The Duke all looked up in horror.  
Alana gapped in disbelief. "The Universe just loves proving me wrong, doesn't it?"  
Elise punched her shoulder. "You make it so easy!"  
The serpent towered over the ship and was about the strike when a fireball from the enemy ship struck it in the head. The serpent, showing a charred mark where the fireball hit, spun furiously. The serpent dove into the water and swam under the stolen ship and then under the enemy Fire Nation ship. It emerged and wrapped its body around the vessel. Alana and Pipsqueak ran up to the edge of the deck. Alana was shocked to see the serpent attacking the other ship. Alana, Pipsqueak, and I slowly moved away from the sight of the beast attacking the Fire Nation ship.  
Alana sighed as we sped away. "Thank you, The Universe!"

Odette:

While we docked at a pier, I sat alone in my room. Water dripped from a grating in the ceiling of my room, the dripping noise driving me insane. I lied on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. I looked over at my door as Elise, Kole, and Alana entered the room.  
"Hey, Odette, we're going into town to find some dinner," she said.  
I looked down at my flat stomach and clutched it as it growled loudly.  
"Well, I am pretty hungry. Maybe dinner's a good idea," I said.  
Alana pulled out a red headband and handed it to me. "Here, tie this around your head. It'll cover your arrow."  
I glared at her stubbornly. "I'm not going out if I can't wear my arrow proudly."  
Alana groaned. "Odette, be practical."  
Kole frowned slightly, concerned. "You guys go ahead without us. We'll catch up with you."  
Oh great it was time for another one of his "lectures".  
Alana and Elise left the room as I laid back on my bed and tapped my finger.  
"I think I understand why being a secret bothers you so much," Kole said and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You don't want people to think you failed."  
I closed my eyes sadly. "You're right, I don't. But the problem is, I did fail."  
"Odette, that's not true."  
I sat up sharply, surprising him. "It is true. I was in Eralith. I was there, but I lost. And now, the Earth Kingdom has fallen for good."  
Kole smiled at me gently. "Remember, there's still an invasion plan."  
"And I hate the invasion plan, too! I don't want you or anyone else risking your lives to fix my mistakes," I hissed angrily and grabbed the tapestry above my bed and ripped it off its hanger, throwing it to the floor and knocking over my staff. "I've always known that I would have to face the Fire Lord, but now, I know I need to do it alone."  
"Odette."  
"Kole, please. Just go, please."  
Kole tilted his head down sadly and made his way to the door. "Is there anything you need?"  
I refused to look at him.  
"I need to redeem myself. I need my honor back."  
Oh dear god, now I sounded like Ren.

Ren:

I was walked down a large hallway inside the Fire Nation palace, staring at my feet worriedly. I stopped when I reached the end of the hallway, standing in front of an archway covered by a red curtain with a gold symbol of the Fire Nation on it.  
I took a deep, shaky breath, braced myself and walked forward, parting the curtain, revealing the Fire Lord's throne room. The throne room was filled with dark, ornate pillars. Fire Lord Mordred sat on his throne up on the dais, separated from the rest of the throne room by a trench of fire. I stepped in and stared up at my father, shrouded in shadow.

Kole:

I walked down the hallway outside Odette's room, hoping to cheer her up. She was so sad and depressed and I knew part of it was because we were keeping her locked up, but there was just no other alternative.  
I knocked and then entered, carrying a tray of food loaded with all her favorite foods that I could find.  
"I brought you some food," I said.  
I looked left and right, finding no sight of Odette.  
"Oh no!"  
The tray fell to the ground and the food spilled onto the floor as I ran out of the room, my heart pounding in terror.

Ren:

I fell to my knees and bowed before my father respectfully, terrified.  
"You have been away for a long time. I see the weight of your travels has changed you. You have redeemed yourself my son," he said and stood up and walked forward.  
I looked up into my father's face, timid.  
"Welcome home."

Odette:

Struggling fiercely against the wind and cloudy skies, I flew over open water. Wincing from my wounds, I struggled to keep steady, my arms shaking from the effort it took.  
I knew Kole was going to be furious with me…but I had to do this. I could do it. I had failed the world once, and I was not going to let it happen again.  
Suddenly, I lost altitude and almost hit the water before regaining control.

Kole:

I ran as fast as I could towards the top of the bridge tower of the stolen Fire Nation ship where Cato and my father were. I ran up to them, tears in my eyes as I stared at my father desperately.  
Cato looked at me then my father, then back to me. "I'll leave you two alone."  
Cato walked off I walked up to my dad.  
"What's wrong Kole?" he asked, worried.  
"She left," I gasped, feeling my heart wrench as I said the words.  
"What?"  
I shook my head, frustrated. "Odette. She just took her glider and disappeared. She has this ridiculous notion that she has to save the world alone. That it's all her responsibility."  
Dad looked at me softly. "Maybe that's her way of being brave."  
"It's not brave. It's selfish and stupid. We could be helping her. And I know the world needs her, but doesn't she know how much that we need her too? How could she just leave us behind?" I ranted.  
There was a brief moment of silence as Kodah lets my words sink in.  
"You're talking about me too, aren't you?" he asked quietly.  
Yes, I was.  
"How could you leave us, Dad? I mean, I know we had Gran Gran, and she loved us, but...but we were just so lost without you," I said, angry.  
I turned away and cried for the first time I had since…I couldn't even remember. Dad put a hand on my shoulder.  
"I am so sorry, Kole," he said.  
I hugged my dad, something I needed desperately, and continued to cry into his familiar, warm chest. He returned the embrace.  
"I understand why you left. I really do, and I know that you had to go, so why do I still feel this way? I was so sad and angry, and hurt," I said, my voice cracking.  
"I love you more than anything. You and your brother are my entire world. I thought about you every day I was gone, and every night when I went to sleep. I would lay awake missing you so much, it would ache," he said and that only made me feel worse about myself.

Ren:

In the Fire Lord's throne room, I kneeled on the floor as my father paced to the left.  
"I am proud of you, Prince Ren. I am proud because your sister conquered Eralith. I am proud because, when your loyalty was tested by your treacherous uncle, you did the right thing, and captured the traitor. And I am proudest of all of your most legendary accomplishment. You slayed the Avatar."  
I raised my eyebrow in surprise and fear but it hit from him well.  
"What did you hear?" I asked, genially curious.  
"Athera told me everything. She said she was amazed and impressed with your power and ferocity at the moment of truth," he said.  
Why that little-  
Even though weren't kids anymore she still managed so mess with me and get under my skin. Being back at home was a lot like time had been rewound. All that was missing was my beloved mother who would swoop in to save me from my nasty little sister.

Odette:

I glided barely a foot over the ocean, growing weaker and weaker by the second. The wing of my glider dipped into the water as I tried to keep control. I steadied myself and looked ahead to see a blockade of Fire Nation ships.  
"Blockade," I groaned.  
Bracing myself, I took a huge breath and collapsed my glider and dove into the water. I torpedoed through the water and under the blockade, scaring away three green sealguanas. I popped out of the water on the other side and caught my breath, exhausted.  
I spotted a large peace of drift wood and swam over to it. I grabbed on to it and smiled as an idea came into my head.  
Using the driftwood as a board and my glider staff as a sail, I started wind boarding, bouncing over the waves and using way less of my waning energy. I may have found an easier way to travel, but now it was raining heavily and I was freezing cold.  
I struggled to hang on as the board bounced high into the air. I hit the water, but wiped out, loosing my balance. I disappeared into the waves.

Ren:

I stormed down the hall to my sisters bedroom and pushed the door open forcefully.  
Athera was lying in her bed. When the door opened, the light from the hall shined in, casting my shadow over her.  
"Why'd you do it?" I growled.  
"You're going to have to be a little more specific," she said, not even sleepily as she kept her eyes closed.  
She had been expecting me.  
I glowered at her. "Why did you tell Father That I was the one who killed the Avatar?"  
Athera sighed. "Can't this wait until morning?"  
"It can't," I snapped sternly.  
Athera sighed, opened her eyes and sat up. "Fine. You seemed so worried about how father would treat you because you hadn't captured the Avatar. I figured, if I gave you the credit, you'd have nothing to worry about."  
"But why?"  
Athera got out of bed, rolling her eyes. "Call it a generous gesture. I wanted to thank you for your help, and I was happy to share the glory."  
She was toying with me, I could tell by the tone of her voice, a slight mocking edge to it.  
"You're lying," I growled.  
Athera walked past me. "If you say so."  
"You have another motive for doing this. I just haven't figure out what it is," I accused.  
Athera laughed and stretched before turning back to me, resting her hand on a hip. "Please, Ren. What ulterior motive could I have? What could I possibly gain by letting you get all the glory for defeating the Avatar? Unless somehow, the Avatar was actually alive. All that glory would suddenly turn to shame and foolishness. But you said yourself that was impossible. Sleep well, RenRen."  
Athera laid her head on her pillow and closed her eyes as I walked miserably out of the room and down the hall.

Odette:

Lightning struck in the sky.  
I desperately tried to hang on to the drift wood and not be swept away. I reached out to my glider as it floated further away from me. I yells as I was suddenly caught in a huge wave and was plunged beneath the water. I swam back up and grabbed a hold of the drift wood.  
I was beaten…pain…exhausted…hopeless.  
"I'm not gonna make it. I failed," I cried, hating my own stupid weakness. Even though after everything that I had gone through, everything that he had done…my thoughts turned to Ren. I wished he was here right now, he would help me. I knew he would have…I felt it in my heart. I had been wrong before…he was scared, that much was obvious. And no one knew better than I did how fear could make you do things you didn't want to do.  
There was another flash of lightning and the spirit of Avatar Koren appeared before me.  
"Koren?" I gasped, blinking against the rain.  
Koren looked down at me calmly. "You haven't failed, Odette."  
"But everyone thinks I am dead again. They think I've abandoned them, and I'm losing this war. I'm letting the whole world down," I cried.  
"If anyone is to blame for the state of the world, it is me. I should've seen this war coming, and prevented it. You inherited my problems and my mistakes. But I also believe you are destined to redeem me, and save the world."  
I looked down, wiping my sopping wet hair out of my face. "I don't know."  
A beam of moonlight suddenly cast over me.  
"You already saved the world," Falcon's voice echoed through my mind.  
I looked up to the sky, surprised. The moon was shining through the clouds and the spirit of Falcon appeared in front of it.  
"And you'll save the world again. But you can't give up," he said.  
Falcon descended towards me as I stared in wonder.  
I thought back to him…how he gave his life up for his people, for the world. I thought back to Athos and Bumi and Detra and everyone who had had their lives lost and effected fighting in this war. They had all done it for the world, to make it a better place, and they had done it selflessly. If they could do it…then I could to. They'd only had the strength and power of one man inside the, whereas I had the strength and power of thousands upon thousand of Avatars before me.  
I could do this. I would make it.  
My expression quickly turned to determination.  
"You're right. I won't give up."  
I waved my arm in a circle and bended a large wave of water behind me, pushing me forward. I climbed on top of the drift wood and rode it like a surfboard. I waved my hands to both sides and picked up speed as the wave rolled across the ocean.  
In less than an hour, I finally reached Crescent Moon Isle. Lava trails flowed from the top of the volcano and down into the sea. There was a part of the shore where the lava had not touched. I crawled over from the water, breathing heavily from exhaustion - physical and mental - and I collapsed, rolled over, and fell into oblivion…  
…when I woke, it was dawn.  
Fang was sitting on my chest, licking my cheek, awakening me. Fang hopped off I as I groaned and sat up, the waves of the ocean crashing on the shore a few feet away from my feet. I looked over and saw one of the most wonderful sights I had ever seen  
Kole running to me. Alana and Elise followed after. Kole dropped to his knees and hugs my head, relieved.  
"You're ok!" he gasped, laughing breathlessly.  
Elise, Alana, Fang and Emrys all gathered around me and formed a group hug. I smiled happily and hugged them back. As long as I had them by my side, I didn't have to do this alone. We would do it together and we would come out on top, just like always. There was just one person missing…one last piece to fill the gap in out group.  
After a moment, I broke away.  
"I have so much to do," I sighed.  
Kole touched the side of my face, running his hand through my hair. "I know, but you'll have our help."  
Elise smiled. "You didn't think you could get out of training just by coming to the Fire Nation, did you?"  
"What about the invasion?" I asked.  
Alana looked down at me reassuringly. "We'll join up with my dad and the invasion force on the day of the eclipse."  
"Hey, what's…" Elise leaned down and grabbed my broken and burnt glider from out of the water. "Oh...it's your glider."  
Elise handed the glider to me as we all stood up.  
I looked at it sadly for a moment before I shook my head. "That's okay. If someone saw it, it would give away my identity. It's better for now that no one knows I'm alive."  
I turned around and jumped onto a mound that trickled out lava. I looked down solemnly at my glider.  
I spun the glider above my head and slammed it into the lava end first before jumping away.  
I looked at it and thought of it as the symbol of the old me, finally letting go of my past. And as it went up in flames and I walked away, I thought of the new me. The person I was born and destined to be. The Odette who would never give up, the Odette who would save the world and continue to be it's protector long after the war. And most importantly, the Odette who would keep on loving the Prince of the Fire Nation, no matter how many times he screwed up. She would help him find his way someday.  
When you really loved someone, there was no amount of distance between you two that could stop you from loving him or her. Real love didn't just fade away or turn off like the switching on and off of a light, even though many of us would like for it to when things started to go wrong, or when the love you felt was causing you pain, but we had to remember that there were always risks in giving someone your heart.  
Ren would face his fears, just as I had today, and when he did he would come to me and be all that I had ever needed.  
The new Odette just had to keep on trusting that and keep her faith in him - faith in herself - until everything came out the way it was supposed to be.  
I looked back at my beloved glider as it ignited and was consumed by the flames.


	2. Chapter 2: The Headband

Ren:

In my bedroom, I tossed and turned in my bed, unable to sleep.  
I was in trouble, and there was no way I could get out of it this time. Odette was alive and my father was going to have me killed - literally - when he found out. I had completely forgotten the water. And now, Athera had once again thrown me under the bus. She knew I had lied before, and now I was going to pay the price for it.  
I rose from bed and donned a hooded cloak, my mind spinning in terror. Slipping by an unguarded path over the crater's rim, I make my way to a prison tower embedded in the slope of another, nearby volcano. As I stood in the prison courtyard, looking upward, a guard spotted me.  
"Who's there?" he shouted.  
No…I couldn't do it, not yet…  
Without a word, I turned and left.

Odette:

We came to the Fire Nation outer islands around midday a few days after my escape. A mysterious cloud we were shrouded in scuttled rapidly over the water. As it lighted on one of the islands, we started speaking.  
"I think I see a cave below," I said.  
"Shhush... keep quiet!" The cloud dispersed with a blast of airbending to reveal us, riding Emrys. Alana dismounted and began a furtive reconnaissance. "Great job with the cloud camo, but next time, let's disguise ourselves as the kind of cloud who knows how to keep its mouth shut."  
Elise rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Yeah, we wouldn't want a bird to hear us chatting up there and turn us in."  
"Hey! We're in enemy territory. Those are enemy birds," Alana snapped defensively.  
Ignoring them, I pointed upward to four of the enemy birds, perched on a rock just behind me. One hopped down onto my head and squawked plaintively. We all laughed but Alana remained unamused.  
Ever the sourpuss of our group.  
We walked toward the cave I had spotted, Alana lurking behind. All of the sudden, she leaped over our heads to ward off some - entirely imaginary - threat. Peering suspiciously about, she dashed into the cave, followed by the rest of us giving her odd looked.  
"Well, this is it. This is how we'll be living until the invasion begins. Hiding in cave after cave...after cave...after cave…" Alana's head dropped further to her chest with each repetition of the word.  
"Alana, we don't need to become cave people. What we need is some new clothes," Kole sighed at her.  
I agreed with that. "Yeah, blending in is better than hiding out. If we get Fire Nation disguises, we'll be just as safe as we would be hiding in a cave."  
"Plus...they have real food out there. Does anyone wanna sit in the dirt and eat cave-hoppers?" Elise punched the cave wall and several hoppers hopped out. Fang caught one and began chowing down on it hungrily while we looked on, revolted.  
Alana smiled slightly at him. "looked like we got out voted, sport. Let's get some new clothes."

Kole:

We found a place to hide nearby some Fire Nation laundry. Several items of clothing were hung on lines outdoors, suspended over steam vents. We hid in some rocks close by, surveying the scene.  
Odette was uneasy and looked around her. "I don't know about this. These clothes belong to somebody."  
"I call the suit!" I said and leaped from the rocks, running to my prize and snatching it from the line.  
Odette paused for a moment and considered. "But if it's essential to our survival...then I call the silk robe!"  
Plunder ensued.  
The laundry's lone attendant, stealing a nap in the doorway, was completely oblivious to us which worked.  
Once we all had something to wear, we took off to a secluded beach nearby. Hiding quietly, we all tried on our new duds. Odette tied the belt from her robe around her forehead to conceal her arrow.  
"Ta-dah! Normal kid," I said after I had finished.  
Elise looked down thoughtfully.  
"Hmm...I should probably wear shoes, but then I won't be able to see as well. Sorry shoes!" Sitting down, she brought her knee up to her chest, pulling on the shoe's upper and popping out the sole with her foot, which propelled it into Alana's face. She stood up and evaluated her new customized footwear. "Finally, a stylish shoe for the blind earthbender."  
"How do I look?" Odette asked, turning around.  
I looked head to toe at a ravishing Fire Nation beauty...with one false note. Smitten, I blushed, and then suddenly realized the problem.  
"Uh...your arrow."  
"Oh...oh, yeah. I guess it's pretty obvious, isn't it?" she said, chagrined.  
I thought for a moment then smiled and handed her the belt from my sister's women's suit. "Here, use this."  
Reluctantly, she took the belt and tied it around her forehead, hiding the arrow. If anything, it only added to the effect.

Odette:

We walked through the bazaar of a nearby town, where Alana bought some new, more fire-themed neckwear. In an alley, she put it on and Elise and Alana tried on their own new accessories - a new headband for Elise and a topknot clasp for Alana. For my part, I smoothed down Fang's ears and tucked him beneath my robe.  
"I used to visit my friend Ayanna here a hundred years ago. So everyone just follow my lead and stay cool. Or as they say in the Fire Nation - 'Stay flamin'!" I said and sauntered out, the others following. A man was eating a meat shish kebab on the sidewalk and I waved to him as we walked by. "Greetings, my good Hotman!"  
The Fire Nation Citizen was surprised. "Uh, hi. I guess?"  
Wow, had common manners disappeared that much since I had disappeared? Either that or perhaps my lingo was perhaps a little out of date.  
Alana led the way to a butcher's shop.  
"Oh, we're going to a meat place?" I asked, my stomach churning at the thought.  
"Come on, Odette," Alana groaned, guessing what the problem was. "Every one here eats meat...even the meat!"  
She indicated a nearby cow-hippo, greedily scavenging a pile of fly-blown fish.  
I shook my head, unconvinced. "You guys go ahead. I'll just get some lettuce out of the garbage."  
They entered and I turned around and began dispensing affable greetings to my new countrymen.  
"Hotman. Hotman. Hotman. Hotman. Hotman," I greeted.  
Three imposing, official-looking figures approached me suddenly and I bristled slightly.  
"It's over, we caught you," an officer snapped.  
"Who me?" I asked, looking about, afraid.  
"It couldn't be more obvious that you don't belong here." I cringed, expecting the worst. "Next time you play hooky, you might want to take off your school uniform."  
What?  
"Heh, heh. Uh!"  
I was seized by the collar and pulled towards them roughly. They drug me all the way across town to a Fire Nation school, dominated by a large statue of Mordred. Inside, they led me down winding hallways before the stopped in front of a door, opened it, and shoved me in. My new classmates and I stared at each other in mutual astonishment.  
The teacher - who I had been told was Ms. Ellesmere on the way up here - turned to me shrewdly. "Oh! Is this a new mind ready for molding?"  
"That's right," I said brightly and knocked myself on the head to indicate its lack of contents. "Let the molding begin."  
The truant officers turned to leave.  
"Wait a minute," the teacher said and the officers stopped and turned around. "You're not from the Fire Nation!" A suspenseful moment ensued as Ms. Ellesmere approached me with a critical eye. "Clearly you're from the colonies."  
I slumped slightly, relieved. "Yeah, the colonies. Of course. The Fire Nation colonies in the Earth Kingdom."  
"Your etiquette is terrible. In the homeland, we bow to our elders. Like so." She bowed her head, making a fist with her right hand, holding her left hand open and pointed upward so that the palm was perpendicular to her body, and brought the two hands together so that the proximal phalanx of her infolded right index finger just touched the base of her left palm, again perpendicularly. The effect was of a small, stylized flame.  
"Sorry ma'am," I apologized and attempted the salute, but reversed hands and met my right palm with my entire left fist, instead of just the index finger. Ms. Ellesmere tapped my fist with her ferrule, obviously disapproving.  
I looked around for help. A boy in the front row caught my eye and demonstrated the proper technique. I smiled, reversed hands, and lowered my fist.  
Ms. Ellesmere tapped my head with her ferrule. "And we don't wear head coverings indoors."  
"Um, I have a scar. It's really embarrassing," I lies smoothly.  
Ms. Ellesmere considered before nodding. "Very well. What is your name? Or should we just call you, 'Mannerless Colony Slob'?"  
I chuckled. "Just 'Slob' is fine." This didn't go over well. I tried a different tack. "Or, uh... Ayanna."  
I turned to face the class with a friendly smile.  
After a few hours of tying and failing miserably to catch up with my "schoolwork", the bell rang, signaling school was out. Kids streamed out the doors. I walked towards the exit, pulling open my jacket and whispering to Fang.  
"We made it through the day, Fang. And...it was pretty fun!" I said, surprised by this.  
Someone spoke from behind me, amused. "Don't let the headmaster catch you with that wolf."  
Concealing Fang, I turned around with an innocent grin on my face. "What wolf?"  
The boy who had helped me earlier smiled. He had a sweet face with golden brown eyes and dark brown hair. "Don't worry, I'm not a tattletale. My name's Nicola. I like your headband, by the way."  
I smiled, meditating a reply, when I was suddenly jostled from behind by a tall Fire Nation girl, who walked past me to stand by Nicola.  
She glared at me contemptuously. "Nicola, you don't have to baby-sit the new kid."  
"Wow," I said amiably and bowed, Fire Nation style, oh yeah. "You must be one of those popular kids I've been hearing about."  
"That's right. Now listen, friend...I know you're from the colonies, so I'll say this slowly," she said. She enunciated carefully, getting in my face as she did so. "Nicola...is...my...boyfriend. Don't forget it."  
She poked me in the chest and Fang stirred and complained beneath my jacket. I smoothed him down and grinned sheepishly at the girl's suspicious glare. She pointed at her eyes and then at mine to indicate that she'd be keeping an eye on me. She turned and walked away with her arm around Nicola.  
"It was nice meeting you," I said pleasantly, rolling my eyes. Her worry was silly…I already had my eyes on a different Fire Nation boy, not that she knew that but still.  
A small Fire Nation girl approached me, her eyes wide in shock. "I don't believe it. She didn't beat you up. Not even a little."  
I shrugged modestly. "I guess I'm just lucky."  
The girl smiled at me. "I'm Jazmyne. We were on our way to play hide-and-explode. You wanna come?"  
"I'd love to!" I said, elated.

Kole:

Day faded to night and Odette still hadn't returned. I paced around the campfire and looked anxiously out at the cave entrance, hoping she would come back soon. We'd looked for her all day and there had been no sign of her anywhere.  
Just before I was about to go look for her, Odette slid down the roof of the cave to its entrance and walked in.  
"Where have you been? We've been worried sick!" I snapped at her, running over as she approached us around the fire.  
Odette was covered in burn marks and my eyes flew wide in alarm.  
"I got invited to play with some kids after school," she explained, catching my look.  
It was Alana's turn to stand up, flummoxed. "After what?"  
Odette smiled happily. "I enrolled in a Fire Nation school, and I'm going back tomorrow."  
Alana shook her head, shocked. "Enrolled in what?!"  
She keeled over.

Ren:

After a few days, I returned to the prison tower. This time, I actually went inside and walked down a corridor. The guard from the last time heard my footsteps and spun around, leveling his spear. He recognized my hooded figure but didn't place who was under it immediately.  
"You again? Stop where you are."  
I raised my head, revealing my well-known face with my telltale scar. "Prince Ren?!"  
I grabbed him by the collar and slammed him against the wall.  
"Ugh!"  
I spoke in a tone of insolent menace, one that I had not used in some time. "I'm going in for a visit. You're gonna stand guard here, and no one is going to know about this."  
The guard nodded, frightened and opened the cell. The cell was bisected by a wall of bars so that one half was accessible from the door and the other half served as a cage. Uncle, unkempt and dressed in rags, was seated cross-legged on a mat, facing the wall to the right of the cell door as I entered it. I walked in and up to the bars.  
"Uncle. It's me," I said quietly.  
I removed my hood and shook my shaggy, mussed hair out of my face. Uncle turned away to face the back of his cell, scowling.

Kole:

Seated around the fire, we argued over weather or not Odette should return to the school.  
Alana slapped her head in frustration. The two had been bickering constantly for over ten minutes now.  
"Odette, I'm trying to be mature and not immediately shoot down your idea. But it sounds...really terrible," she sighed.  
Elise agreed with her. "Yeah, we got our outfits. What do you need to go to school for?"  
"Every minute I'm in that classroom. I'm learning new things about the fire nation. I already have a picture of Fire Lord Mordred," Odette replied and held up a picture of the handsome Lord.  
She put it down and lifted up another one. "And here's one that I made out of noodles!" She displayed her masterpiece to us once again, smiling hugely.  
Alana nodded, surprised. "Impressive, I admit. But I still think it's too dangerous."  
Odette sighed and looked at her deviously. "I guess we'll never find out about the secret river then. It goes right to the Fire Lord's palace. We were supposed to learn about it in class tomorrow…"  
Smooth.  
"Hmm... I am a fan of secret rivers," Alana said, and then relented. "Fine, let's stay a few more days."  
"Flamey-o, Hotman!" Odette cheered, jumping to her feet as she ran off in excitement.  
I looked after her, amused as Alana turned to me. "Flamey-o?"  
I shrugged my shoulders, not knowing what to say. "Mmm-mm?"

Ren:

I glared furiously at his back as he continued to ignore me.  
I stood at the bars, growing more irritated. "You brought this on yourself, you know. We could have returned together. You could have been a hero!"  
Uncle turned a shade further away from me.  
"You have no right to judge me Uncle. I did what I had to do in Eralith, and you're a fool for not joining me," I snarled and Uncle remained silent. "You're not gonna say anything?"  
Enraged, I kicked a stool and bended a blast of fire at the wall.  
"Arghh! You're a crazy old man! You're crazy, and if you weren't in jail, you'd be sleeping in a gutter!"  
This had been a total waste of my time - what had I expected to happen? That he would fall to his knees and beg me for forgiveness? Stupid!  
I left, slamming the door behind me in rage

Odette:

The next morning, I was happily back in the Fire Nation classroom. Ms. Ellesmere entered and all the students rose.  
Ms. Ellesmere nodded at us. "Good morning, class. Recite the Fire Nation oath."  
They turned to the larger-than-life portrait of Mordred that dominated the room's rear wall, bowed Fire Nation style and began reciting. I stood up awkwardly, a few beats behind everyone else, and did my best to follow along.  
"My life, I give to my country. With my hands, I fight for Fire Lord Mordred and our forefathers before him…" the students said in unison.  
"Fire Lord...forefathers…"  
"With my mind, I seek ways to better my country, and with my feet…"  
I tried to follow along desperately. "Firebenders...Fire Lord...blah, blah, blah, blah."  
The other students stopped reciting and began giggling helplessly. Ms. Ellesmere scowled and the students turned back around and sat down.  
Ms. Ellesmere rose and struck the open book before her with her ferrule for emphasis. "Since it's obviously hilarious to mock our national oath, we'll begin with a pop quiz on our Great March of Civilization."  
The students groaned and took pens and paper in hand.  
"Question one: What year did Fire Lord Ezra battle the Air Nation Army?" I raised my hand, confused. The teacher acknowledged me suspiciously. "Ayanna?"  
I rose. "Is that a trick question? The Air Nomads didn't have a formal military. Ezra defeated them by ambush."  
The entire class stared open mouthed at my brazen heresy.  
Ms. Ellesmere was flustered. "Well, I don't know how you could possibly know more than our national history book. Unless you were there a hundred years ago."  
Thinking better of it, I sat down. "I'll just write down my best guess."  
In band practice, my day didn't get much better.  
The music teacher taped his stand and the amateur orchestra commenced playing. I, armed with a Tsungi horn, paused a few moments to draw in a deep breath and suddenly let fly a boisterous blast of something resembling music, maniacally dancing in place as I did so. The rest of the class stopped playing, dumbfounded.  
"Ayanna?" the music teacher asked.  
I sighed and stopped playing. "I know. I'm a terrible Tsungi hornist."  
"No, child. That hullabaloo going on with your feet. Is that a nervous disorder?"  
I was lost. "I was just dancing. You do dances here in the homeland, right?"  
Jazmyne, sitting beside me, leaned over slightly. "Not really, no."  
The teacher walked to the window. "Dancing is not conducive to a proper learning environment. Young people must have rigid discipline and order."  
"But what about expressing yourself?"  
The music teacher sighed and walked back to his stand.  
"I know sometimes we're so moved by our love for our nation, that we can't control our own bodies." Overcome with emotion, he clapped his hand to his face and reconsidered. "If you must, you may march in place quietly next time the urge hits you."  
The orchestra recommenced and I marched quietly as directed but malcontent.  
Later in the day at lunch, I headed out to the school courtyard. Kids were scattered about the yard, eating their food and chatting in groups.  
As I exited the school building and entered the yard, the kids spotted me and begin whispering; clearly, I had caused a sensation.  
Nicola suddenly approached me. "Oh, hi, Ayanna. I really liked that crazy dance you were doing."  
I laughed. "Thanks, Nicola. I could show it to you again, if you'd like."  
I started and yelled as a blast of fire hit me. I looked up and saw Demi - the girl who had yelled at me yesterday - across the yard, who had thrown the blast.  
"What'd you say, colony trash? You're gonna show him something?" She hissed as she approached us.  
I shrugged. "Just some dance movements."  
"Nobody shows my Nicola anything, especially movements."  
She lunged at me and I stepped neatly out of the way. For the next several seconds, Demi tried to land a blow on me but I was too quick and agile to be caught. At last, Demi was propelled by her own momentum onto the ground. At this unfavorable juncture, the School Headmaster entered the scene, and naturally assumed that I had been bullying Demi, rather than the other way around.  
"Picking fights on your second day? We need to have a conference to discuss your punishment. Bring your parents to my office after school," the headmaster said, disgusted with me.  
"Parents? But…"  
"Don't be late."  
He turned and left, followed by a smirking Demi. I was momentarily crestfallen - but then got an idea.

Kole:

In the Headmaster's office, I tried to keep my face straight as we went into the meeting. To distract myself, I looked around at the obligatory portrait of Mordred on the wall to the Headmaster, sitting directly beneath it.  
The School Headmaster's voice snapped me back to attention. "Thank you for coming, Mr. And Mrs…"  
Alana, Odette, and I, in that order, were seated facing the Headmaster. I was wearing a fake moustache and beard. Alana's hair was tied up in two buns on either side of head and her waist was padded to mimic pregnancy.  
"Fire! Wang Fire. This is my wife, Sapphire," I said in a loud voice.  
Alana shook her head slightly before perking up. "Sapphire Fire, nice to meet you."  
The School Headmaster looked at us dubiously. "Mr. and Mrs...Fire, your daughter has been enrolled here for two days, and she's already causing problems. She's argued with her history teacher, disrupted music class, and roughed up my star pupil."  
"My goodness! That doesn't sound like our Ayanna," Alana gasped.  
The Headmaster nodded indulgently. "That's what any mother would say, ma'am. Nonetheless, you're forewarned. If she acts up one more time, I'll have her sent to reform school…" he cut Odette a menacing glance "... by which I mean the coal mines. Are we clear?"  
"Don't you worry, Mr. Headmaster. I'll straighten this girl out somethin' fierce." I turned and blustered in Odette's face. "Little girl, as soon as we get home, you're gonna get the punishment of a lifetime!"  
The Headmaster smiled slightly with an air of subdued sadism. "That's what I like to hear."  
We rose and left with me swaggering proudly...the role of overbearing father figure seemed to suit me.

Ren:

Naveen and I were enjoying a sunset picnic and a chance to canoodle in private on a sheltered little plateau on the rim of the royal volcano.  
"Orange is such an awful color," Naveen sighed, looking at the setting sun.  
I faked a snicker. "You're so beautiful when you hate the world."  
Naveen looked up at me dreamily and I resisted the urge to pull away. "I don't hate you."  
"I don't hate you, too," I said and we kissed. I was getting pretty good at this whole lying thing…imagining I was talking to Odette made things a little easier, but I still wished I could stop thinking about her all together.  
"Ahem!" my sister's voice suddenly broke through my concentration and we looked up at her in irritation. "Ren, could I have a word with you?"  
"Can't you see we're busy?" I snapped and Naveen and I resumed our "business".  
But Athera was not one to be put off. "Oh, Naveen... Kenna needs your help untangling her braid."  
Naveen smiled complaisantly. "Sounds pretty serious."  
She got up and left. After she passed my sister, she shot the princess a quick, poisonous glance behind her back.  
Even though Naveen provided a fairly decent distraction for me, I was grateful to Athera for getting rid of her…she seriously creped me out sometimes.  
"So...I hear you've been to visit your Uncle Fatso in the prison tower," Athera said casually.  
"That guard told you," I snapped, incensed as I jumped to my feet.  
Athera grinned smugly. "No, you did. Just now."  
Oh I hate you sometimes…  
I sat back down. "Okay, you caught me. What is it that you want, Athera?"  
"Actually, nothing. Believe it or not, I'm looking out for you. If people find out you've been to see Uncle, they'll think you're plotting with him. Just be careful, dum-dum," she said solicitously.  
As she walked off, I looked up at her suspiciously.

Kole:

Odette stared in amusement at my face, still bearded, as I bent over Odette and ranted at her.  
"That settles it. No more school for you little girl!" I snapped.  
I straightened up and stroked my beard imperiously.  
Odette laughed at my over-the-top act. "I'm not ready to leave. I'm having fun for once, just being a normal kid. You don't know what it's like, Kole. You get to be normal all the time."  
Elise snorted mockingly. "Ha, ha."  
I scowled.  
"Listen, guys, those kids at school are the future of the Fire Nation. If we wanna change this place for the better, we need to show them a little taste of freedom," she explained.  
"What could you possibly do for a country of depraved little fire monsters?" I questioned.  
"I'm gonna throw them…" she did a quick tap dance flourish "...a secret dance party!"  
Elise, Alana, and I all stared at her, stunned. I was the first to recover.  
I pointed to the back of the cave with a flat look. "Go to your room!"

Odette:

Later that same night, Elise earthbended a bandstand from the cave floor.  
Alana was arranging candles. "I can't believe we're having a dance party. It seems so... Silly."  
I smiled at her. "Don't think of it as a dance party, but as a cultural event celebrating the art of fancy footwork."  
I demonstrated my "fancy footwork" as Kole bended beverage into an earthbended punchbowl. We had just finished setting up when Elise suddenly felt the vibrations of our guest's feet.  
"They're coming! Everyone stop bending!" she whisper yelled.  
I approached Emrys.  
"Sorry, buddy. You should probably wait out back." Emrys grumbled and shuffled into a tunnel at the back of the cave and I patted her side. "I know, you've got fancier feet than anybody...and six of 'em!"  
As the guests started to file in, I got a few Fire Nation kids playing various musical instruments on the bandstand. I leaped in front of the band exultantly and, facing them, spread my arms wide.  
"Ladies and gentlemen, The Flamey-os! Yeah, this ought to get everybody moving," I said.  
I turned around.  
It hadn't.  
The Fire Nation kids were standing, huddled together, uncertain.  
Jazmyne looked at me. "Now what do we do?"  
I smiled. "This is when you start dancing."  
A Fire Nation boy spoke up as his head disappeared into his collar like a turtle's into its shell. "I don't think my parents want me dancing in a cave."  
"Yeah, what if someone finds out?" another boy said as he looked around anxiously and scuttled off.  
"Oh, boy. Listen, guys...dancing isn't something you think about. It's a form of self-expression that no one can ever take away from you," I said.  
Jazmyne frowned. "Maybe it was different in the colonies, Ayanna. But we don't do that here."  
I shrugged. "Sure you do. You have for generations. It just so happens that I know several classic fire nation dances. A hundred years ago, this was known as 'The Phoenix Flight.'"  
I ran in a circle, squatting and kicking my legs in the fashion of the old folk dance, my arms stretched straight out behind me in imitation of wings. The students oohed and aahed.  
"And this was the "Camelephant Strut"."  
I hoped on one foot, alternating feet with each hop, passing my palms in front of my face as I did so. I turned a somersault through the air and landed in front of two guys, who smirked, embarrassed. I somersaulted backwards and landed expertly on one foot, bowing. The students were amazed. Elise and Kole were watching, sitting to the side, drinking beverage.  
"Who knew Twinkletoes could dance?" Elise asked and Kole smiled.

Ren:

Okay, enough playing around. I needed to talk to my Uncle desperately.  
He was the only one who would know how to help me. Being back in the Fire Nation was exactly what I had wanted for so long, but I found that I couldn't enjoy it. I carried a huge burden of guilt and remorse that went with me no matter how hard I tried to shake it off.  
In the interior of Uncle's cell, I kneeled and passed a packet of food through the bars.  
"I brought you some komodo-chicken. I know you don't care for it, but I figure it beats prison food," I said, trying to ease my way back into his acceptance…I hadn't done a very good job of it last time. Uncle, sitting down, was silent, his back to me again.  
"I admit it. I have everything I always wanted, but it's not at all how I thought it would be. The truth is, I need your advice." I clenched the bars. "I think the Avatar is still alive. I know she's out there. I'm losing my mind."  
I clutched my head desperately. "Please, Uncle, I'm so confused! I need your help."  
Uncle remained motionless…he wasn't going to help no matter how much I begged.  
Hurt and enraged I stood, feeling like an idiot for even trying. "Forget it! I'll solve this myself! Waste away in here for all I care!"  
I walked to the door and opened it, turning back for just a moment, and then quickly slammed the door.

Kole:

I watched as Odette somersaulted through the air and landed in front of a boy who was looking away bashfully. A friend nudged him and he looked up at Odette, who extended her hand to him. He blushed as she led him out to the dance floor.  
"And this is how they do it in the ballrooms of Eralith," she said.  
She passed her arms in an undulating motion across her chest, stepping from side to side as she did so. The boy - who she called Nicola imitated her.  
Alana nodded in approval. "Wow, they look pretty good together."  
Dismissively, I looked away. "Eh, if that's what you like."  
I stole a jealous glance at the couple.  
More of the kids joined Odette and Nicola. The crowd was loosening up.  
"Yeah, that's it. That's the sound of happy feet. All right, go with that. Everybody freestyle!" Odette announced.  
One Fire Nation boy was doing an elaborate "freestyle" dance, reminiscent of juba dancing. The remaining people in crowd were slowly beginning to get their groove on. I sat alone at a table with my head in my hand. I looked up when I heard the sound of feet approaching. Odette was standing in front of me, hand outstretched.  
"I don't know, Odette. These shoes aren't really right for dancing, and I'm not sure that I know how to…"  
Odette smiled masterfully. "Take my hand."  
I sighed. "Okay."  
She led me out to the center of the floor and whispered the steps in my ear. I nodded and we stretched out our arms and touched wrists, circling around the axis thus formed.  
"Odette, everyone's watching," I said, feeling uncomfortable.  
"Don't worry about them. It's just you and me right now," she said calmly.  
I looked into her warm grey eyes, blushing, and then confident. We began an elaborate dance that seemed to be based off capoeira, cartwheeling through the air, crouching, and kicking over one another's heads. The crowd stopped dancing and watched us, entranced.  
After out dance was finished, the party went into full swing.  
"This is incredible. It's like my inhibitions just disappeared," a boy said, dancing. Just then, the Headmaster and his entourage entered the cave, and the dancing grinded to a halt. The boy's head shrank back into his collar. "Okay. They're...back again."  
Odette, oblivious, danced across the floor.  
"She's the one we want," the Headmaster yelled and Odette looked up, alarmed. "The girl with the headband!"  
He pointed and the truant officers made a beeline for Odette.  
"Uh-oh," she said and dashed into the crowd, an officer following close behind. The crowd parted in front of the officer to reveal a lone figure with her back turned, wearing a headband.  
"Got ya!"  
He grabbed the figure by the shoulder and turned her around. It was Jazmyne, who had tied her belt around her head in imitation of Odette.  
Jazmyne smiled. "Looking for me?"  
"That's not the one! She's here somewhere. Don't let her leave the cave!" the Headmaster snapped.  
The officers darted through the crowd, the Headmaster joining them. Headbands were multiplying everywhere. One by one the officers snagged them, only to discover one wide-eyed innocent face after another.  
"Yes?"  
"Hi there."  
"How we doing?"  
"Looking for someone?"  
The officers, disoriented, backed into a small knot in the middle of the cave as the students encircled them. By now the entire student body had morphed into replicas of Odette.  
"Who are you looking for?"  
"Do you need something?"  
"Over here."  
At the back of the cave, our gang was escaping down the tunnel Emrys disappeared into earlier. Odette, last out, stopped and turned back for a moment. Jazmyne, at the edge of the crowd, turned and winked at her. Odette bows - Fire Nation style - and ran down the tunnel. Two walls of rock abruptly slammed across the tunnel's entrance, sealing it off.

Odette:

Safely ensconced in Emrys's saddle, we flew away through the night sky.  
Kole looked at his sister and shook his head. "We're safe, Alana. You can take off the moustache, now."  
Alana had stolen Kole's fake mustache and was now wearing it proudly. She grinned smugly. "Oh, no, I can't. It's permanently glued to my skin."  
She stroked it, unaccountably pleased with herself.  
Elise looked over and smiled at me. "Way to go, Dancypants. I think you really did help those kids. You taught them to be free."  
I shrugged. "I don't know. It was just a dance party, that's all."  
Kole smiled. "Well, that was some dance party, Odette."  
He leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, making me blush.  
Alana, sitting cross-legged near the pommel, rocked lazily back and forth and clapped her hands slowly like a tranced-out beatnik. "Flamey-o, sir. Flame-ee-o."

Ren:

There was only one way to fix my problems now.  
Odette had to die.  
The thought saddened me but it had to be done. I had to get on with my life and there was just no room for her in it. Besides, the only reason I was thinking about her so much was because she was still alive. It was just my fear and my guilt nagging at me - that was why I saw her stupid face every time I was with Naveen, there was no other explanation. The feelings that I had for her were false…just products of the influence my Uncle had over my mind.  
Well, hopefully after tonight, I would soon be rid of the annoying little peasant.  
I walked though a seedy industrial quarter somewhere in the Fire Nation, my hood pulled up over my head. Smokestacks clouded the night sky, casting darkness everywhere. In a small yard bisected by railroad tracks, I walked into the middle of the yard and removed my hood.  
A clanking noise was heard and I turned as two large boots, one of them metal, stamped into view. The one good thing that had come out of me regaining my status as the Prince was that I had the power to pull any kind of string I wanted…from anyone.  
"You're sure you weren't followed?" I asked, speaking to the ominous looking figure twice my height. "I've heard about you. They say you're good at what you do. And even better at keeping secrets. The Avatar's alive. I want you to find her. And end her."  
My newly hired assassin stared back, as expressionless as the inverted eye tattoo on his forehead.


	3. Chapter 3: The Painted Lady

Kole:

Emrys, with us in her saddle, slogged her way down the course of a sludge-infested river somewhere in the Fire Nation. Odette and Fang were frolicking in the putrescent water, playing hide-and-go-seek.  
"Fang!" She ducked underwater before Fang saw her, resurfacing nearby. "Oh Fang!"  
She ducked again, surfaced again, and the wolf finally spotted her.  
"Ah! Ha ha, you found me, buddy." It seemed to finally dawn on Odette that she is swimming in toxic filth. She airbended herself up into the saddle. "Hey guys, I think this river's polluted."  
She bended the residual goop off herself, sliming the rest of us in the process. Another blast of air and everyone was clean.  
Alana looked around, fishing pole in hand. "Well, that explains why I can't catch a fish around here. Because normally my fishing skills are... off the hook! Get it? Like a fishing hook?"  
The sound of chirping crickets was actually audible...or maybe that was birdsong. Either way, the joke was a flop.  
"Too bad your skills aren't on the hook. Elise's sally WAS more successful; we all laughed, except Alana, who scowled.  
"It looked like we'll need to go somewhere else to get food," I said, unrolling a long scroll of paper in front of me. "Assuming that'll fit into Alana's master schedule."  
The end of the scroll fell into Alana's hands and she studied it intently.  
"Hm...it's doable. But that means only two potty brakes today!" she said.  
"Hey, maybe we can get food there," Odette said and pointed to the little village of, just visible down river.  
In a secluded spot in the nearby uplands, Odette covered Emrys with a blanket of turf. Fang was already similarly concealed.  
"Now you look just like a little hill with horns. Bye buddy!" she said.  
Emrys grumbled as we headed out.

Odette:

We stood on the cliffs that overlooked the river, surveying the scene.  
Elise frowned, tapping her foot. "I don't feel anything. Where is this village?"  
"It's in the middle of the river!" Alana said, shocked.  
"Sure is!" a man said and we looked down to see a village eccentric in his boat. "My name's Sanders. Mind if I ask who you are?"  
Kole looked at us wearily. "We're, um, from the Earth Kingdom colonies."  
"Wow... colonials! Hop on; I'll give you a ride into town," he offered.  
We hopped on and Sanders proceeded towards the village.  
"Why do you guys live on the river?" Kole asked.  
"Because we're a fishing town. At least that's how it was before the factory moved in," the old man said, looking up at an ominous-looking Fire Army munitions factory, visible through a gap in the cliffs. "Army makes their metal there. Moved in a few years ago and started gunking up our river. Now our little village is struggling to survive."  
We arrived in town and I waved goodbye as we headed out to explore.  
"Thanks for the ride!" I called back sincerely.  
After we walked through the entire town…which only took about fifteen minutes….it was obvious that the entire place was stricken with poverty and enforced idleness.  
Kole looked around sadly. "Look at this place. It's so sad. We have to do something to help."  
Alana immediately shut him down. "No, we can't waste our time here! We have a bigger mission that we need to stay focused on. These people are on their own!"  
Kole frowned at her. "These people are starving, but you turn your back on them?! How can you be so cold and heartless?"  
"I'm not turning my back, I'm just being realistic! We can't go around helping every rinky-dink town we wander into. We'll be helping them all by taking out the Fire Lord!"  
Elise slapped her hand over Alana's mouth. "Hey, loudmouth! Maybe we should be a little quieter when we talk about taking out the Fire Lord."  
"Come on, Kole, be reasonable about this. You know our mission has to come first," Alana said, a little quieter which was a miracle for her.  
Kole sighed reluctantly after a moment. "I guess so."  
We were wasting time arguing over this.  
"Let's just get what we need and go," I said as we approached the counter of an outdoor market stall, staffed, to all appearances, by the same aged fisherman who gave us a lift into town.  
Alana smiled boredly. "Hey, Sanders. You work here too?"  
Sanders frowned. "I'm not Sanders, I'm Taylor. Sanders's my brother."  
We all blinked, baffled.  
I looked at the dock then back at him. "But we just saw you. You're even wearing the same clothes. The only difference is your hat."  
"Sanders works on the docks, that's why they call him "Sanders", and I work in the shop, that's why they call me "Taylor"."  
I frowned, not seeing the connection at all. "I don't get it."  
"Me neither." He pulled out a crate filled with rancid grey seafood. "What can I getcha? Hey, I'll give you a special deal. If you buy three fish, I'll throw in a clam for free."  
We were all revolted by the foul haul...but we did need to eat…  
Alana groaned, not happy. "We'll just take the fish. Mind telling your brother we need a ride back to shore?"  
Sanders ducked beneath the counter; when he reappeared, he was wearing his original headgear.  
Sanders smiled. "Hey, colonials. My brother says you need a lift."  
As we turned away to follow him, an urchin ran up to Kole.  
'Can you spare some food?" the little boy asked.  
Kole looked at him sadly and gave him a fish. "I wish I could spare more."  
The boy ran away and Kole watched him give the fish to a sick woman, presumably his mother.

Kole:

We returned to our campsite back up on the cliffs. While the benders of our group bended the pollution out of our cooking water, Alana pondered her schedule.  
"Our detour into town today has completely thrown off our schedule. It's gonna take some serious finagling to get us back on track," she whined.  
Elise rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Finagle away, O schedule master."  
Alana ignored that. "Well, for starters, it looked like we'll need to wake up forty-three minutes earlier every day."  
I balked. "Forty-three minutes?"  
Alana shrugged. "Look, we only have a few weeks to get to the Fire Lord in time for the invasion and the eclipse - which, by the way, only lasts for eight minutes. And we just lost a whole day. So if we want to make up the time and stay on schedule, we have to wake up early!"  
"Well, I'm not waking up early," Elise said hardly.  
Alana crossed her arms. "Or we could just cut out all of our eating brakes."  
Odette's eyes flew wide. "What?"  
"No way," I agreed. She was crazy, how could we not eat?  
Elise waved her hand. "Forget it."  
Alana thought for a moment then smiled excitedly. "I got it, how's this? From now on, we'll take food brakes and potty brakes at the same time."  
We all shuddered in disgust. "Ew."  
I think I'd rather wake up earlier…  
Alana raised her hands in defense. "Hey, it might be gross, but it's efficient. Either way, we have to leave here first thing tomorrow morning."  
Frowning, I looked back towards the river. I just couldn't get the villagers' plight out of my mind.

Odette:

The following morning, Emrys was lying on his side, groaning, while Kole ministered to her.  
"What's the matter, Kole?" I asked, looking at my beloved friend worriedly.  
Kole looked back, just as worried. "I think Emrys's sick."  
Alana shot up. "What, Emrys's sick? That's awful!"  
Elise quirked an eyebrow. "Wow, Alana, I didn't realize you cared so much."  
"Of course I care. I might as well just throw our schedule away now," she snapped. The rest of us gave her the evil eye and she quickly changed her tune, rushing solicitously to Emrys's side. "And I'm concerned because my big, furry friend doesn't feel well."  
Elise frowned. "She must have gotten sick from being in the polluted water."  
"She doesn't look sick. You okay, buddy?" I asked and pulled Emrys's tongue out and almost had a heart attack. "Her tongue is purple! That can't be good. Kole, can you heal her?"  
Kole shook his head. "It looked like she needs some medicine. Maybe we can find the right herbs in town."  
We immediately went to the village, which had appeared to have experienced a renascence over night, now bustling and prosperous.  
"Is it just me, or does this place seem different?" Elise asked.  
I nodded. "Yeah, are the people...happier?"  
The urchin from the previous day ran by, bouncing a ball, and Kole smiled to his self. We walked up to Sanders's market stall, where, judging by his hat, he was currently inhabiting his "Taylor" persona.  
"Hey, Taylor, what's going on with everyone today?" Alana asked.  
"Ah, something amazing happened last night. Food was delivered to our village by a mysterious and wonderful person...the Painted Lady," he said.  
Kole frowned curiously. "The Painted who now?"  
"The Painted Lady," Sanders said and plunked a statuette of the Lady down on the counter: she was a heavily draped damsel with elaborate eponymous face make-up and capped with a wide-brimmed conical hat. "She's part of our town's lore. They say she's a river spirit who watches over our town in times of need. I always thought she was just a legend. Until now."  
Alana turned to Kole smugly. "See, we don't need to help these people, they already have someone to help them. All we need is medicine for our sick friend."  
Sanders was surprised by the request. "Medicine? Sorry, all the medicine we have goes to the factory. That's why there's so many sick people in our village."  
Kole looked back at Alana, mimicking her smug tone from before. "looked like we need to stay another night so Emrys can rest."  
Alana groaned, exasperated. "I guess you're right. You got any more food to sell?"  
Sanders held up a piscine monstrosity in each hand. "Would you like the one-headed fish, or the two-headed fish?"  
Alana mulled it over briefly. "Two-headed!"  
We stared at her, shocked and revolted.  
"What? You get more for your money that way."  
Yeah…

Kole:

Resembling Sanders's Painted Lady statuette, I returned to the village that night and glided over the water on a carpet of fog and entered the village. I stepped into a dwelling, presumably an infirmary, where several people were sleeping on the floor, and bended over each of them in turn, healing them. My last patient was the mother of the urchin seen earlier, her son sleeping at her side. He woke as "the Painted Lady" turned to go and silently followed me out the door.  
"Thank you, Painted Lady," he said sincerely and I felt my heart warm.  
I stopped, startled, acknowledged him with a nod, and glided away into the night…  
…In the village, the next day, Sanders was polishing his Lady figurine with a rag as Alana stepped up to the counter.  
"Hi, Sanders. Is Taylor around?" she asked.  
"Let me check…" He ran around the shop and ducked beneath the counter to switch hats. "Hey there! Back again, are ya?"  
"We need more food. Our friend is still sick and we can't leave until he's better," Elise said.  
Sanders obligingly presented us with a platter of noxious clams. "Oh, well, that's too bad. Maybe if you guys are lucky, the Painted Lady will visit you in the night, and heal your friend."  
My sister - the eternal skeptic - rolled her eyes. "And maybe she'll cook us a midnight snack, and we'll all have a sing-along."  
Sanders was oblivious to the sarcasm. "Yeah, may be! You know, last night she visited us again. Healed most of our sick folks."  
"Is that why this place seems so festive?" Odette asked, punching Alana's arms casually.  
I turned and saw the villagers erecting a large statue of the Lady in the town square to cheers and applause.  
Sanders nodded. "Yep, it's all because of the Painted Lady."  
I smiled as we walked away, beaming inside.  
"Can you believe how much an entire village can be affected by one lady? I mean... spirit?" I asked.  
Alana shrugged. "Well, I hope she returns every night. Otherwise this place would go right back to the way it was."  
I glared indignantly. "Why would you say that? Look how much better off these people are."  
"Yeah, now, but without her they wouldn't be able to fend for ourselves. If she really wanted to help, she would use her spirit magic to blow up that factory." Alana made gestures to indicate explosive spirit magic. "Oooooo... Pow."  
"Spirit magic doesn't work that way, Alana. It's more like…" Odette did an elaborate dance to one-up Alana. "Woooooo.…"  
I stalked off angrily as the girls hammed it up together.  
"Wooooooo…"

Odette:

I woke up later that night with Fang jumping on me and yelping.  
"What's the matter, buddy?" I groaned and blinked looking up. I spotted a mysterious figure just as she was slipping out of sight.  
"It's her!" I gasped and ran after her. "Hello, Painted Lady spirit!"  
Shocked the spirit began running away but was only barely able to keep ahead of me.  
"Excuse me, I don't mean to bother you, but my friend's sick and we're on kind of a tight schedule. Wait, but I'm the great bridge between your world and mine. I know Hei Bai, we're close personal friends," I called after her, determined. I chased her across the landscape, over the river and into the village. Running along a rooftop, I shouted to her… "Heeeyy!"  
Distracted by the vocalization, I suddenly ran into a roof pole while she continued on through the village, across the river and onto the opposite riverbank as I put on a burst of speed. She stopped to catch her breath, turned around...and I was right there.  
"My name's Odette. I'm the Avatar," I explained, not wanting to frighten her anymore.  
"Well, hello, Avatar. I wish I could talk, but I am very busy," she said in a strange voice that was too deep too be normal for a woman.  
"Yeah, me too. I hate that," I said and took a peek under her hat brim. "You know, you're really pretty for a spirit. I don't get to meet too many spirits, but the ones I do meet...not very attractive."  
She chuckled nervously. "Thank you, but…"  
I looked at her suspiciously. "You seem familiar, too."  
Too familiar…  
"A lot of people say that."  
"No...you really seem familiar."  
"Look, I really should get going…" She turned to leave, but I sent her hat flying with a blast of airbending, not appreciating the fact that my best friend was lying to me. He frantically pulled it back onto his head but...  
"Kole!" I snapped, putting my hands on my hips.  
Defeated, he turned to face me. "Hi, Odette."  
He was donned in a makeshift Painted Lady costume; wrapped in a ragged gown around him, his face painted, and the entire thing was finished off with a wide conical hat similar to the Lady's, but with a diaphanous white veil covering his face.  
"You're the Painted Lady ! But how?" I gaped.  
Kole sighed. "I wasn't at first, I was just trying to help the village. But since everyone thought that's who I was anyway...I guess I just kind of became her."  
I nodded, putting the pieces together quickly. "So you've been sneaking out at night? Wait...is Emrys even sick?"  
"She...might be sick of the purple berries I've been feeding her, but, other than that, she's fine."  
I groaned and looked up at the sky in disbelief. "I can't believe you lied to everyone so you could help these people."  
He looked down guiltily. "I'm sorry, I know I shouldn't have."  
I shook my head and smiled. "No, I think it's great! You're like a secret hero."  
Kole was surprised but smiled back happily. "Well, if you want to help...there's one more thing I have to do."

Kole:

We stood beneath the factory, staring up at its menacing expanse darkly.  
Odette looked to me. "You want to destroy this factory?"  
"Yes. Alana was just kidding, but he was right. Getting rid of this factory is the only way to help these people permanently," I explained as we entered the factory.  
As soon as we were in, hard-core bending-assisted mayhem ensues. Odette had just a little bit too much fun in destroying it, but then again so did I. Our carnage ended with an explosions rocking the building and us running out unnoticed.  
The sun was rose as we returned to the campsite.  
"Ha ha!" Odette laughed triumphantly, bursting with excitement as she imitated the sound of an explosion.  
I laughed with her and clapped a hand over her mouth. "Shhh, we don't want to wake Alana."  
It was a little late for this…  
Alana and Elise were waiting for us as we walked into camp. I froze for a moment, shocked before I smiled, all innocence. "Hi! Alana! We were just...out on a...morning walk!"  
"Oh, really? A morning walk?" She dumped the dry grass I had stuffed into my sleeping bag last night onto the ground. "I know you're the Painted Lady. I know you've been sneaking out at night, and I know you've been lying about Emrys and feeding her purplizing tongue berries!"  
Elise stuck out her now-purple tongue and held up a bag of the berries as evidence.  
"Kole, what you did put our whole mission in jeopardy. We're leaving right now," Alana growled furiously and then turned to Odette. "And how long did you know about this?"  
Odette help up her hands. "Hey, I just found out this morning."

Odette:

At the campsite we were swiftly packing up our things, Alana pacing around and snapping orders. A strange sound suddenly filled the air and we looked up to see a detachment of Fire Soldiers on jet skis racing down the river towards the village.  
Elise frowned and poked me. "What's going on?"  
"Fire Nation soldiers are heading to the village," I said, a sense of dread washing over me.  
Alana spun on Kole angrily. "What did you do?!"  
He looked down guiltily. "I...kind of destroyed their factory."  
"You what?!"  
"It was your idea!"  
"I was joking. I also said to use spirit magic and made funny noises. Did you even think this through? The army's gonna blame the villagers. They're headed there right now to get revenge," Alana yelled, furious.  
Kole threw his hands in the air. "Well, what was I supposed to do?"  
"Leave! Do nothing!"  
"No. I will never, ever turn my back on people who need me," he yelled just as loudly, getting in his sister's face before walked away." I'm going down to the village, and I am gonna do whatever I can."  
Alana, after a moment of soul-searching, got up and follows him.  
"Wait. I'm coming too."  
Kole turned back, surprised. "I thought you didn't want to help."  
Alana sighed, still irritated. "You need me, and I will never turn my back on you."  
"Alana. You really do have a heart," Kole said and they hugged.  
"She really does have a heart, doesn't she?" I said, overcome.  
Wiping away tears, I turned to Elise for confirmation. The earthbender, however, had a low tolerance for this kind of girly twaddle and socked me in the chest, felling me to the ground.

Kole:

We came up with a plan in no time and headed down as fast as we could. When we got there, a general was addressing the gathered villagers.  
"I thought we could live as neighbors, in peace. But I guess I was wrong. You steal our food, our medicine...and then you destroy our factory," he growled angrily.  
Sanders popped out of the crowd. "We didn't do any of that."  
The then popped out in a different place wearing his Taylor hat. "Yeah, the Painted Lady brought us food. She's the one that healed our sick, not your medicine."  
The General snorted. "Oh, right, the mysterious Painted Lady did it. And I suppose she drew the army emblem on your containers, too. This is a town of thieves and liars!"  
He bended a fireblast, destroying a house.  
"Where's your Painted Lady now? We're going to cure the world of this wretched village." The Fire Soldiers began demolishing the town. Two of them lit a large flammable ball perched on a buoy in the river, but a mysterious gust of wind from nowhere blew the fire out, twice. "Light it again!"  
They did, and it was blown out again. Eerie flute music began floating over the water.  
"Look at that! Where's it coming from?" a female soldier gasped, referring to a heavy fog that was rapidly pouring in.  
"I don't know. Something strange is going on," another soldier said as an ominous growling noise echoed over the river.  
The little boy who had thanked me smiled excitedly. "It's the Painted Lady. She's coming."  
"There is no Painted Lady!" the general shouted at him and I narrowed my eyes.  
"What is that sound?" the female soldier asked, trembling.  
A repetitive thudding noise, as of giant footsteps, had begun. On the river to the further bank, I knew that the thudding was caused by Elise elevating and dropping a large boulder, Emrys was doing the growling, and Alana was manning the flute.  
"Maybe it is her…" another soldier said.  
The fog parted dramatically to reveal me in full Painted Lady regalia. I paused a moment for the theatrical effect and then rushed toward the Fire Soldiers in a burst of waterbending. I alighted on the dock and slowly approached them.  
"Do something!" the general cried and pushed his minions forward. As they timidly drew near, they were rattled by a blast of airbending. Odette was hiding beneath the dock. "Stand your ground!"  
I waterbended two jet skis into a nearby cliff. As I raised my hand to wreak further damage, the Fire Soldiers jumped into the remaining jet skis and sped off, leaving the general to hold the fort.  
"I'll take care of you myself."  
He bended a arc of fire at me. Odette, still concealed beneath the dock, sent me flying into the sky on a column of air; the flame passing harmlessly beneath me. For good measure, Odette rended the dock in two with a blast of wind, sending the general flying into the river. As he floundered, I raised out of the polluted water before him and raised my arms threateningly.  
"Leave this village and never come back," I growled.  
He swam desperately away from me, terrified. A stray jet ski passed by and he clambered into it; the ski buzzed off. Alana and Elise rowed towards the village as the people applauded me.  
The little boy smiled up at me. "I knew you'd come."  
Sanders bowed deeply. "Thank you!"  
"Painted Lady, you're the best!"  
Wow…was this what Odette felt like all the time?  
"Me and my brothers really owe you a lot." Sanders said but then narrowed his eyes, looking at me more closely, then had a shock of recognition. "Hey, wait a minute! I know you! You're not the Painted Lady, you're that colonial boy!"  
The little boy looked up and his eyes widened. "Yeah, you're the boy that gave me a fish."  
Sanders jabbed a finger at me. "You've been tricking us. You're a waterbender!"  
"He's a waterbender! How dare you act like our Painted Lady?"  
Okay the Odette comment…yeah I take it back.  
The crowd surged forward in anger but Alana ran forward to intervene.  
"Maybe he is a waterbender, but he was just trying to help you. Because of him, that factory won't be polluting your river, and the army is gone. You should be down on your knees thanking him!" Alana snapped furiously, glaring daggers at them.  
"Alana, it's okay," I said and turned to the villagers. "I shouldn't have acted like someone I wasn't, and I shouldn't have tricked you. But I felt like I had to do something. It doesn't matter if the Painted Lady is real or not. Because your problems are real, and this river is real. You can't wait around for someone to help you. You have to help yourself."  
Sanders thought for a moment before nodding. '"He's right, but what should we do?"  
Elise, who had hidden in the crowd, popped out and made a suggestion in a disguised voice.  
"Maybe we can clean the river."  
"Yeah, we can clean the river!" The crowd cheered this idea. "Thank you. You know, you're not so bad for a waterbender."  
"You wouldn't mind keeping that a secret, by the way, would you?" Alana asked.  
Sanders waved his hand. "No problem. Keeping my mouth shut is a personal specialty. My brother Taylor, on the other hand, hoo! He's a blabbermouth."  
"So, Sanders, are you gonna help us clean?" I asked.  
"No, sir. I'm going to get my other brother, Amari. He loves cleaning rivers." Sanders brazenly switched hats right in front of us. "Alright, I'm Amari! Let's get some river cleaning done."  
Odette jabbed a finger at him smugly. "Aha, I knew it! I knew you were the same guy. You're the shop owner and the boat guy."  
Sanders smiled. "Oh, you must be talking about my brothers, Sanders and Taylor."  
Odette stared at him, exasperated. "No, I just saw you! You switched hats and called yourself a different name!"  
"Oh, you know who does that? My brother Sanders," he leaned forward and conspiratorially whispered. "He's crazy."  
Odette fumed.  
It was hopeless - Sanders had been drinking industrial sewage for far too long.  
The afternoon was spent cleaning the river, with extensive bending help us. By sunset, the river was blue and pristine.  
Later that night, back at the campsite, I went down to the river as the others slept. Suddenly an apparition appeared before me...the Painted Lady was real after all.  
"Thank you," she whispered.  
She receded into the fog and disappeared.  
I was stunned for a moment, but then slowly smiled.


	4. Chapter 4: Alana's Master

Kole:

I stared up at a meteor shower flying across the nighttime sky.  
"Wow, this is amazing to watch," I said, awed by the beauty.  
We were all lying on a makeshift roof covering Emrys and staring up at the sky.  
Alana nodded in agreement at my statement. "Kind of makes you realize how insignificant we are."  
"Eh, you've seen nothing once, you've seen it 1,000 times," Elise said and I felt bad that she couldn't see this.  
There was a sparkle in the sky as a large meteorite entered the atmosphere and fell toward the earth. I sat up in alarm, my heart pounding in fright at the unnatural thing.  
Alana was just as startled as I was. "Oh, man. You've never not seen anything like this."  
Alana, Odette, Fang and I all sat up and stared in amazement at the meteorite, engulfed in blue fire. The meteorite as whistled through the air and passed over our heads. Alana turned around and watched as the meteorite crashed in a huge, blue explosion off in the distance, causing us to shield our eyes. Elise stood up in surprise as we all looked at the smoke rose from an orange glow. Odette, Alana, and I looked to each other nervously.

Alana:

We hurried to a town that was nestled in the mountains. Emrys flew down towards a large, fire filled crater where the meteorite had landed.  
Kole looked around, his eyes wide in alarm. "The fire is gonna destroy that town."  
"Not if we can stop it," Odette said fiercely.  
Emrys landed close to the fire. Odette, Elise, and I jumped off while Kole slid onto Emrys's neck and took her reigns.  
"There's a creek over here. I'll bend the water on to the fire." Kole whipped Emrys's reigns and flew off.  
"Elise, let's make a trench to keep the fire from coming any closer," Odette ordered.  
I looked at her dejectedly. "What should I do?"  
Odette and Elise looked back as Fang came over next to me and barked.  
"Keep an eye on Fang," Odette said hurriedly.  
"So what, I'm just a wolf-sitter," I snapped petting Fang's head. "There, there. Feel better?"  
Odette and Elise ran toward the fire. They both swung their arms down and cut a fissure through the ground in front of the fire. Odette and Elise raised their hands, then flung their arms to both sides, bending the fissure into a trench and pushing the fire back.  
Flaming embers fell around Fang and I and I frantically stamped one out with my club while Fang stamped out the rest and jumped back to me. I looked back to see all the other fires put one and gave Fang a sour expression.  
The one thing I got to do was already done for me.  
Kole and Emrys flew over the nearby creek. Kole bended a huge orb of water out of the creek and high into the air. He bended the water behind him, stabilizing it and I watched Emrys fly over the fire while Kole sprayed a shower of water from the orb, putting out most of the flames. Elise moved her hands from side to side, bending a large, rectangular slab of stone to roll over its edges and stomp out more flames.  
Fang and I watched the stone slab pass by and I hung my head. Odette took the orb of water from Kole with her waterbending as Emrys flew past her.  
She bended the water around her and looked back at me, her hair swirling about her wildly. "Alana, stand clear."  
"Right, stand clear. Got it," I sighed disappointedly.  
I stood up, picked up Fang, and began to walk away. Odette bended the water behind her and took a deep breath before pushing her arms forward, throwing the water at the fire and exhaling a gust of wind.  
Fang quickly jumped out of my arms as I was caught by surprise by the torrent of water.  
A globe of water grew out from the center of the crater and exploded, spreading a light shower of snow all over the area, putting out all the fire. I looked at Odette as Emrys and Kole landed nearby and Elise walked up to her.  
Odette dusted her hands off and smiled widely, snowflakes falling into her hair. "Good work, everybody."  
I glowered and emerged from a pile of snow as Fang slid past me on the ice covered ground.

Ira:

In my very dark cell, I sat boredly, waiting for something to happen.  
The door opened and light poured in over me. I was leaning against the wall, eyes glazed over and drooling. Warden Poon walked up to the bars of the cell and dropped a bowl of mush on the floor in front of the cell and kicked it over to me, spilling it.  
Deciding to give the cruel man a little show, I scrambled at the food, desperate and gasping. I fell face first into the mush and began to slovenly shovel it into my mouth.  
Warden Poon descended. "Look at you. You're just a fat, disgusting old man. You do nothing, you say nothing. You just eat and roll around in your own filth like a pig. You're a disgrace."  
Warden Poon spat on the floor before turning away and exiting the cell.  
I smiled in amusement and flicked away the stray strands of my dirty hair back. I picked up the bowl of mush and assumed a much more dignified, cross legged position and continued eating happily.

Odette:

The next day, we stopped in the small Fire Nation town of Eznany, which was situated in the mountains next to a cliff overlooking a river. Kole, Elise, and I were seated at an outdoor table at a local restaurant, each with trays of food.  
"These people have no idea how close they were to getting toasted last night," I said, amazed that no one had noticed us or the meteorite.  
Elise ate a dumpling. "Yeah, the worst thing about being in disguise is we don't get the hero worship anymore. I miss the love."  
"Boo-hoo, poor heroes," Alana said sarcastically, her face bitter.  
She was sitting at the edge of the floor by herself, a tray of steaming smoked sea slug next to her.  
Kole frowned. "What's your problem? You haven't even touched your smoked sea slug."  
Alana sighed sadly, poking at one of her most favorite foods in the world. "It's just...all you guys can do this awesome bending stuff like putting out forest fires, and flying around, and making other stuff fly around. I can't fly around, okay…I can't do anything."  
Kole's face softened in understanding. "That's not true. No one can read a map like you."  
Elise smiled encouragingly. "I can't read at all."  
"Yeah, and who keeps us laughing with sarcastic comments all the time I mean, look at Kole's hair, right," I laughed and grabbed a lock of Kole's hair - which had grown out and was a little shaggy but was still in it's wolf-tail style - and gestured to it. "What's up with that?"  
Kole looked around, embarrassed. "What? What's wrong with my hair?"  
He looked left and right nervously, trying to cover his hair.  
I raised my hands apologetically, trying not to laugh. "Nothing, I was just trying to…"  
"Look, I appreciate the effort, but the fact is each of you is so amazing and so special, and I'm not. I'm just the girl in our group who's regular," Alana sighed, even more upset.  
Kole sat down next to his sister comfortingly.  
"I'm sorry you're feeling so down, but I hope you know none of us see you that way." He paused a moment, then placed a hand on Alana's shoulder "I know something that's gonna make you feel better."  
She looked up, depressed. "You do?"

Alana:

Odette, Kole, Elise, and I stood in the doorway of a weapons shop.  
I clapped my hands excitedly, grinning like a goofball. "Shopping!"  
I ran forward and started eagerly examining the various weapons displayed on the tall racks.  
"Maybe a little something to reinvigorate my battling," I said and pulled a nunchaku from the rack.  
"Hey, how about these," I said and began twirling the nunchaku. "Ho-ya! Smack-a-dacka-doo!"  
I accidentally hit myself in the head and fell over, knocking over a few of the poles weapons on the rack and making Elise flinch.  
Kole was fitting on a pair of gloves.  
"What do you think?" Odette asked him as she walked up, wearing an extremely stylized and complex suit of heavy, shiny armor. "Pretty slick, huh? All I need to complete the outfit is a wind sword."  
Kole shielded his eyes from the shine of the armor. "What's a wind sword?"  
"It's where I get a sword handle. And then I just swing this around and bend air out like a blade." Odette raised a sword handle a swung it around, making wind noises.  
Kole shook his head at her, amused. "Yeah...nice."  
The heavy armor creaked and began to fall over. Odette, unable to move anything but her arm, started to panic. Kole tried to stop Odette from falling, but Odette and the armor hit the floor with a loud thud.  
She sighed as he laughed hysterically. "I'll just stick to what I got."  
I held a pole weapon with a blade the end, a guandao. I swung it to one side, the swung it over my head and twirled it in a circle. The weapon flew up towards the ceiling like a helicopter and I put my hands behind my back innocently.  
Still within the same area, I was next dragging an enormous, metal club across the floor. I groaned as I tried to lift it, but lost my grip and fell. Next, I held two swords, marching around and chopping downward with them, making short battle cries in pace as I did so. Then I grabbed a new weapon and spun a chain over my head, but ended up wrapping the chain around myself and I fell over. Then I started running around, carrying a very wobbly spear.  
A few minutes later I was examining a sai before using it as a toothpick. Something glinted and I caught it out of the corner of my eye.  
I rotated around spotted a sword rack on the wall, and a particular sword framed and positioned above the others. I stared wide-eyed at all the details of the hilt and scabbard. A dragon was depicted on the scabbard.  
"Ooo," I said in awe as I walked to the sword, closely examining it and feeling the scabbard. "That's what Alana's talking about."  
The shop keeper watched me in amusement as everyone gathered around me "You have a good eye. That's an original from Dagon, the greatest sword master and sword maker in Fire Nation history. He lives in the big castle up the road from here."  
He walked away, humming to his self happily.  
Odette smiled and gave me a light shove. "That's it. That's what you needed all along, Alana."  
I frowned. "A sword?"  
"Not the sword...a master." She said as I pulled the sword off the rack. "We've all had masters to help us get better. You should see if you can study with Dagon."  
Kole nodded in agreement. "That's a great idea. I could've never gotten to where I am without Master Sorren. Everyone needs a teacher."  
"I learned from badger moles. They don't talk, but they're still good teachers," Elise said.  
I pulled out the sword and examined the blade. "It would be nice to be a master swordfighter. All right, I'll talk to him."

Ira:

A ray of sunlight shined down through a small window, filtering through the bars on the top of my cell. I was lying on my back on straw mat in the corner, hands behind my head. When the entire prison became quiet, I jumped up and began to do a series of sit ups, grunting as I did so as my muscled burned and screamed in protest.

Alana:

I easily found Dagon's castle which was located on top of a large bluff. At the front gates, I grabbed a knocker and tapped it against the large door a few times. I waited a moment and looked around, but there was no answer. I knocked the door and waited again. Still receiving no answer, I became frustrated and grabbed both knockers, banging them loudly and frantically. The right door was opened by the butler, who's name I had been told was Grimms, frightening me.  
"Can I help you?" he said, apathetic.  
Jeez…no wonder they called him Grimms.  
Still frightened, I quickly composed myself and assumed a more mannered persona.  
"I've come to train with The Master," I said.  
"You should know The Master turns almost everyone away." He held his hand out. "What did you bring me to prove your worth?"  
"Well, uh…" I felt around my clothes for something to offer.  
"Right." He shook his head sadly. "Let's get this over with."  
Grimms gestured for me to enter and I stepped through the gate as he closed the door. Grimms and I walked through the castle's courtyard towards the main structure of the castle and then to the tallest tower.  
He too me to a large room with a red carpet and tall windows, giving a view of the valley. Rows of lit candles were places on both sides of the windows. Dagon sat at a small table in front of the windows, his back me. He had dark skin and wore a black cheongsam. Dagon's hand was holding a calligraphy brush and dipping it into a tray of ink, carefully holding his sleeve with the other hand.  
With a nudge from Grimms, I hesitantly took a step forward.  
"Master, my name is Alana, and I wish to be instructed in the way of the sword," I said politely.  
Dagon didn't move, his back still towards me. His sword was placed next to the table.  
"Alana. That's an unusual name."  
I blinked nervously. "Oh, uh, really? Uh, where I come from, The Fire Nation colonies, it's a pretty normal name, for Fire Nation colonials."  
Dagon wrote calligraphy on a piece of parchment. "Let me guess. You've come hundreds of miles from your little village where you're the best swordsman in town. And you think you deserve to learn from The Master."  
"Well, actually, I've been all over the world," I said.  
Dagon nodded knowingly. "Yep, here we go."  
"And I know one thing for sure," I said, ignoring his comment. I got down on my knees and hung my head. "I have a lot to learn."  
Dagon glanced back, surprised. "You're not doing a very good job of selling yourself."  
"I know. Your butler told me that when I met you, I would have to prove my worth. But the truth is...I don't know if I am worthy," I said sadly, disgusted with my own patheticness.  
"Hm, I see. Well, then," Dagon said, smiled, and picked up his sword. "Let's find out together how worthy you are."  
I blinked as Dagon's shadow passed over me. I looked at the red carpet as the end of Dagon's sword's scabbard struck the floor. He was now standing before me, sword firmly planted before him.  
"I will train you."  
A huge smile spread across my face as I looked up at him, shocked.  
He put me right to work.  
After I got changed into my new training uniform, Dagon and I were standing in a sword fighting ring in front of the building we were in earlier. I was wearing an almost identical outfit to Dagon's.  
"The first thing you must learn is that your weapon is an extension of yourself," he said and unsheathed his word and began performing a sword form. "You must think of it as another part of your own body."  
"Like a second head," I stated.  
"Well, more like an extra-long, really sharp arm. The sword is a simple tool, but in the hands of a master it becomes the most versatile of weapons," he said and sheathed his sword and assumed a stance. "And just as the imagination is limitless so too are the possibilities of the sword."  
I smile excitedly and nodded my head in understanding.

Kole:

Odette, Elise, Emrys, Fang and I were lounging about in the countryside. The three of us were lying on our backs in a circle while Fang ran up to us and lied down next to me. Emrys was sleeping under the makeshift roof.  
Odette sighed. "What should we do today?"  
Elise shrugged. "I'm tapped out. I already picked my toes, twice."  
"Twice?" Odette asked, wrinkling her nose.  
"The first time was for cleaning, but the second time's just for the sweet picking sensation," Elise replied, wiggling her toes happily.  
I thought for a moment. "Alana's been in charge of the schedule. I'm not sure what we should be doing."  
Elise picked her nose and I tried not to gag. "Plus, it's so hot today."  
Odette sat up jokingly. "How hot is it?"  
"I don't know. Real hot?"  
I caught onto what Odette was getting at.  
"It's so hot, it's so hot... Fang is shedding like Emrys." I petted Fang and flicked tufts of fur from my fingers, looking at them expectantly. "Huh, huh?"  
Odette scratched her head and my joke received no laughs.  
"I guess the jokes don't run in the family," Odette said.  
I rolled my eyes at her and threw a handful of grass in her face. "Oh, everyone's a critic."  
Emrys grunted in response.

Ira:

I was hanging upside down and doing crunches, panting with effort. My feet were lopped through the bars in my cage as worked, listening intently and hoping no guards would come by as I did the upside down crunches in my cell.

Alana:

Later on in the day, Dagon and I stood in front of a table inside the building. On the table was a calligraphy stationary.  
"The warrior practices a variety of arts to keep his mind sharp and fluid," my master said and flattened out a piece of paper on the table. "The first you will learn is calligraphy. Write your name."  
Dagon delicately handed a brush to me and I took it, messing the bristles up with my thumb.  
I looked at him, skeptical. "Writing my name will make me a better swordsman?"  
Dagon took the brush and positioned it correctly in my hand. "When you write your name, you stamp the paper with your identity. You must learn to use your sword to stamp your identity on a battlefield."  
Holding my sleeve, I dipped the brush into the ink and prepared to write my name.  
"Remember, you cannot take back a stroke of the brush, or a stroke of the sword," Dagon said before I put the brush to the paper.  
My hand quivered and I sweated nervously, the brush barely an inch above the paper. I scratched my head and placed the tip of the brush on my chin, thinking hard about what to do.  
Dagon smirked, amused. "You are getting ink on your face."  
"I am?" I looked at the brush and got an idea. "I am. So this is about putting my identity on the page, right?"  
Dagon nodded.  
I smiled as I proceeded to brush the ink over my face. I then pressed my face onto the paper and rolled his head around. I picked up the paper when I was done and showed it to Dagon, smiling cheerfully. On the paper was a large inkblot which vaguely resembled a face. Dagon simply closed his eyes in response.  
When that lesson was over, he led my to the main building. Grimms and I faced off in the sword fighting ring, both wearing training equipment and holding wooden swords. Dagon sat at the top of the steps leading to the building, watching. Grimms wiped his nose as he waited for me to make a move.  
I lunged at Grimms and thrust my sword. He effortlessly parried the attack and knocked the sword from my hands. Startled, I ran away in fright and Grimms chased after, whacking me in the rear with the wooden sword.  
After that, I was blindfolded and was being guided through the countryside by Dagon.  
"Landscape painting teaches a warrior to hold the lay of the land in his mind," he said.  
Dagon stopped and turned me to face left and pulled off the blindfold.  
"In battle, you only have an instant to take everything in."  
Blinded momentarily, I rubbing my eyes. When I could see again, my eyes grew wide and I smiled with excitement and amazement. Dagon and I were standing before a majestic view of a mighty river flowing into a series of waterfalls that dropped into a canyon. Dagon grabbed my head suddenly and turned me away, making me sit in front of a table with a piece of paper, paint, and paint brushes.  
"Now, paint it."  
I gaped in disbelief. I turned to look at the waterfall again, but Dagon turned his head back.  
"And no peeking."  
Dagon walked away as I took a brush and began to paint the intricate view. I spent forever on it, trying to make it as perfect as I could.  
"I'm finished," I said after almost an hour.  
Dagon opened his eyes and looked at me. I presented a very childish and colorful drawing of the landscape, which bore little resemblance, including a rainbow and a sun with a smiling face.  
Dagon quirked an eyebrow. "You added a rainbow."  
I looked at him, worried. "Is that ok?"  
Dagon sighed and shook his head.  
Back at the main building, Grimms and I were once again in the sword fighting ring with the training gear. I thrust forward and Grimms and I began our practice fight. I fared much better than before. I grunted as I parried a strike and attempted to swing my wooden sword down, but was distracted.  
"Alana."  
I looked over to Dagon, giving Grimms the opportunity to circle behind me and kick me in the back, causing a slightly painful fall to the ground.  
Dagon sighed. "Concentrate on what you're doing."  
I frowned and dropped my head, giving Dagon a half hearted thumbs up.  
The next day, Dagon and I walked to the top of a stairway leading down to an empty, tiled area. A small statue of a lion turtle came into view.  
"Rock gardening teaches the warrior to manipulate his surroundings and use them to his advantage, Dagon said and I placed a hand on my chin, thinking carefully.  
"Hm, manipulate them to my advantage. Oh!"  
Dagon watched as I ran down the steps. A look of worry came over him as I rolled a huge stone across the ground. I groaned at the strain of it.  
Next I spotted a sheet of moss lying on a rock. I went over and examined its texture before taking it and running back to the other side of the area. I threw the moss on the huge stone and then laid down on it, sighing in relaxation on the easy chair I made from rocks and moss.  
Grimms walked up from behind Dagon and suddenly gasped in shock as he looked at the stones scattered all over the tiled floor, creating a mess. I waved at Grimms happily.  
"Hey, would you mind grabbing a cold drink for me?" I asked cheekily.  
Grimms gasped and turned to Dagon.  
Dagon smiled. "I'll take a slice of lemon in mine, please."  
Grimms groaned in resignation, hung his head, and walked off to fetch the drinks.  
After a short broke, Grimms and I dueled in the sword fighting ring again, Dagon sitting and watching again.  
My opponent and I thrust and parried a few strikes. I swung my sword in a circle and tried to hit Grimms's leg, but Grimms pulled his leg up and he avoided the attack. He swung his sword and he parried it. I returned the strike and also parried. I continued my offense with four quick thrusts and Grimms blocked all the attacks and tried to attack me. He missed, and I used this opportunity to slip the blade of my wooden sword under Grimms's hand and flung the sword from it.  
Grimms was shocked and raised his hands in defeat as I thrust my sword forward and placed the blade on the side of Grimms's neck, ending the duel. I stepped away from Grimms, put my hands together and bowed to Dagon, while Grimms frowned angrily at me. Dagon sipped a drink from a cup with a slice of lemon stuck on it, nodding his head in approval.

Ira:

In my cell, I was doing push ups on my knuckles, clapping my hands together at the apex of each push. I heard Warden Poon walk towards the door to the cell and I quickly sat up against the wall, clapping my hands. By the time he looked inside the cell through the barred window in the door, I was sitting against the wall and lazily clapping my hands side to side with a delirious expression.  
"What's going on in there?" he snapped. He watched me for a moment before shaking his head in disgust. "Crazy old man."  
Warden Poon left me alone. I clapped a few more times and smiled when I was sure the warden was gone, ceasing my clapping and pushing back the stray hair hanging over my face.

Odette:

We set up our next campsite near a river. Kole and I were sitting around a map of the Fire Nation, trying to figure out what we needed to do.  
"So where are we going next?" he asked and pointed to the map. "We're starting from here."  
I pointed at a different spot. "No, we're over on this island."  
Elise was lying down not too far away form us. "You noodle-brains don't know what you're doing. I miss Alana."  
"Ooh, I got one. If you miss her so much, why don't you marry her?" Kole said.  
Kole grinned at his joke.  
Elise groaned and rolled over on her side, away from Kole. A winged insect buzzed in front of me, and I simply blew it away with a quick blast of wind from my breath.

Alana:

Dagon and I were sitting on the ground in the sword fighting ring in front of the main building at his castle.  
Dagon looked at me approvingly. "You've had a good first few days of training."  
"I have? But I thought I messed up every single thing we worked on," I said.  
"You messed things up in a very special way. You are ready for a real sword," he said.  
I grinned, excited. "Are you giving me one of yours?"  
"No."  
I groaned disappointedly and slumped down.  
"Your sword must be an extension of yourself. So tomorrow, you will make your own sword."  
I immediately perked up and grinned, bursting with excitement.  
The next morning I was staring at an impressive rack of swords all made by Dagon. Weapons were hung all about the room. Dagon and I were standing at a table. On the table were several bricks of steel.  
"Choosing the correct material is the most important step in crafting a sword. You must trust your steel with your life. Choose carefully," he said  
I took two bricks and weighed them in each hand. I set them down and took another brick. I sniffed it and then bit the brick to test its quality. After a moment I put the brick down and put a hand to my chin thoughtfully. An idea came to my mind and I turned to Dagon.  
"Master, would it be possible for me to leave and bring back a special material for my sword?"  
"I wouldn't have it any other way." He smiled at me.

Odette:

Elise, Kole, Emrys, and I were all asleep and sitting around the map as we were before. Elise suddenly sat up, waking me up.  
"Alana's coming!" she gasped as I fell on the ground, bumping into Kole.  
We both shot up, gasping and smiling excitedly as Alana walked up to the top of the hill.  
"Hey, guys. What are you doing?" she asked.  
Kole, Elise, and I all jumped at her and gave her a group hug like she was the last surviving person on the planet.  
"Alana!" I cried.  
Elise shoved me over. "You're back."  
"We missed you so much," Kole said.  
"Say something funny," I begged her.  
Alana frowned. "Funny how?"  
Kole and I both laughed heartily.  
Alana gave us weird looked and turned to Elise. "What's their deal?"  
"I don't know. They missed you or something. I didn't care," she said and turned away, blushing and smiling.  
"Thanks. That warms my heart. Anyway, I need some help," she said.  
She told us what she needed and we all quickly ran over to the edge of the crater created the night before.

Ira:

Sitting in my cell, I looked through the bars in the ceiling. I leaned forward and put my head on the floor, legs rose into the air and tilting down as I stood on my hands. Sweating heavily, I began to perform hand-stand push ups.

Kole:

Alana, Odette, and I pushed the meteorite up the slope to Dagon's castle. Elise was behind the meteorite, pushing it forward with her earthbending. When we finally reached the large doors Alana ran up and banged both knockers frantically. A man what must have been Dagon opened one of the doors almost immediately and stepped out.  
"Who's this?" he asked, looking at the rest of us curiously.  
Alana looked behind her at us and then smiled. "Oh, these are my friends. Just other good Fire Nation folks."  
The man bowed to us before returning his attention to Alana.  
"Do you think we can make a sword out of a meteorite?"  
Dagon laid a hand on the meteorite and examined it.  
He looked back and smiled. "We'll make a sword unlike any other in the world."

Alana:

As I slaved over a fiery forge and shoveled coal into it, Dagon and Grimms carried over a large sledge hammer. I held a chisel against the meteorite while Grimms hammered it, Dagon watching in the back. I tapped the chisel with a smaller hammer and a piece of the meteorite broke off and fell to the floor. I took a moment to wipe the sweat from my brow, pleased.  
Next I filled a wooden bucket with the meteorite fragments. Grimms took the bucket and I followed him as he brought it over to the forge. After that was done, I worked over the bellows diligently.  
As I worked through the night, Kole and Odette peered in at me from around the corner, checking up on me continuously.  
At some point, I fell asleep with my legs to my chest. I woke up suddenly and looked behind me at the forge. I stood up and resumed shoveling in coal. In the morning Dagon observed me from outside. After the sun had rose, the bucket was pulled from the forge by iron tongs by me. I carefully positioned the liquid space metal over a mold of a blade and poured it in. When it was ready, I hammered the red hot metal against a stone.  
Dagon rose the hot blade and looked carefully at it as I stood behind him excitedly. Dagon dipped the blade into a trough of water. The blade made the water bubble and boil as it hissed and cooled, turning black.  
My sword was complete…  
…By afternoon, I was seated in front of Dagon on the outside of the main building. Odette, Kole, and Elise sat behind me while Grimms stood behind Dagon, holding my sword.  
"Alana, when you first arrived, you were so unsure. You even seemed down on yourself. But I saw something in you right away. I saw a heart as strong as a lion turtle, and twice as big. And as we trained, it wasn't your skills that impressed me," my master said and Grimms kneeled to Dagon and gave me the sword. "No, it certainly wasn't your skills."  
I looked down in shame at that.  
"You showed something beyond that," he continued and unsheathed the sword, showing its black blade. "Creativity, versatility, intelligence... these are the traits that define a great swordsman. And these are the traits that define you."  
He sheathed the sword, kneeled and gave it to me. "You told me you didn't know if you were worthy, but I believe that you are more worthy than any man I have ever trained."  
I stared blankly at the sword in my hands. After a moment, I lowered my head in shame.  
"I'm sorry, Master. You're wrong. I am not worthy. I'm not who you think I am. I'm not from the Fire Nation. I'm from the Southern Water Tribe," I said guiltily and Odette, Kole, and Elise all gawked at me with shock and disbelief. "I lied so that I could learn swordsmanship from you. I'm sorry."  
I held my sword up for Dagon to take. Dagon frowned and turned away.  
"I'm sorry, too."  
Dagon quickly turned back around and swung his sword at me. I stood and avoided the attack, using my sheathed sword to block a thrust from Dagon. Odette, Kole, and Elise got up and went to help me, but I raised my hand to stop them.  
"No, this is my fight, alone."

Ira:

Warden Poon entered the cell, carrying a tray of food.  
"You used to be the pride of The Fire Nation. Our top general. The Dragon of the West. Now, look at you." He dropped the food to the floor and I grabbed a green fruit from behind the bars. "Look what you've become."  
I watched the warden leave and stood up. I put the fruit to my mouth and held it in my teeth as I began to untie my belt. My shirt came off and a thick, folded sheet that had been covering my belly fell to the floor, revealing my knew incredibly buff physic. I took the fruit from my mouth and bit into it.  
I jumped up and grabbed a bar above with one hand. I took another bite of the fruit and began doing one handed pulled ups.  
I was nearly ready.

Alana:

Dagon and I squared off in the sword fighting ring. Odette, Kole, Elise, and Grimms watched from the upper part of the main building.  
I readied myself with my black sword while Dagon's sword pointed at the ground, his other hand raised and pointed. The others watched nervously as we stared each other down.  
There was a moment of utter silence before Dagon lunged forward and began his attack, striking four times. I deflected the blows and stabbed at him.  
Dagon moved his head out of the way and stabbed at me and I swayed back and avoids the attack; Dagon swept his sword at my legs, but I jumped over it and lunged at him, thrusting my sword forward. He deflected my blade and hit me with the butt of his sword's hilt. I was knocked back several feet and slid over the floor. I flipped myself backward and grabbed a post of a small bridge to regain my balance. I quickly climbed onto the post and leapt to the other one just as Dagon thrust his sword at me.  
Dagon spun around and tried to slice my foot, but I jumped away to the other rail of the bridge. He stabbed at me again, but I jumped off the rail and rolled to the side. He struck again, but I rolled under the blade. I blocked Dagon's next strikes as I gained distance and hopped back on the railing. I leaped away to the end of the bridge as Dagon swung his sword at me.  
"Excellent! Using your superior agility against an older opponent...smart," the master commented.  
He charged at me again, striking at me and pushing me up a large stone stairway. I blocked all of the attacks, but the force pushed me against the wall of the stairway. I deflected a thrust from Dagon upward, then ducked as the blade sliced through the part of the wall above my shoulder. He swung his sword around his head and body in two large circles. I barely dodged his blade, cart wheeling to the right. I spun back around, hopped a foot off the ground and pushed off the wall with my legs, propelling myself forward, sword extended. Dagon deflected the attack and I rolled across the stair to the other wall, climbing to the top.  
"Good use of terrain...fighting from the high ground," he said.  
I swung at Dagon below me, who parried and swung at me. Dagon thrust his sword at me and I pinned the blade under my own, weighted down under my feet. Dagon tried to wrench his sword free, but couldn't. He leaned forward and pushed his sword upward, throwing me off. I grunted as I stumbled back into a tall stalk of bamboo.  
Elise, Odette, and Kole all winced at the sight.  
I looked up fearfully, strands of hair falling over my face. Dagon raised his sword and charged at me.  
I ducked as he sliced the bamboo just above my head. I ran off into the bamboo thicket, slicing through as many surrounding stalks of bamboo that I could. As Dagon chased after, the stalks all began to fall. He skillfully cut through the bamboo as I desperately ran through the bamboo and turned, grabbing a stalk and pulling it.  
I let it go just as Dagon caught up, causing the bamboo to whip back at Dagon. He cut through the stalk and began to strike at me and I deflected and ran off again, grabbing two bamboo stalks.  
"Yes, use your surroundings. Make them fight for you!" he cheered.  
I let go of the stalks and they whipped around at Dagon, who sliced through them.  
I ran out of the bamboo and back towards the sword fighting ring, screaming in terror and Dagon not far behind. I was very frightened and took a look behind, but Dagon has run off to the side and out of sight. By the time I looked ahead, he was already in front of me and pokes his sword out in front of me, trying to make me run into it. However, I leaned back, sliding under the blade.  
I stood back up and stumbled forward, stabbing my sword into the ground to stop my fall. Using my momentum, I swung my sword back around, flinging dirt and dust at Dagon. The dirt hit him right in the face, blinding him. Dagon spun around and positioned his sword behind his back to defend any sneak attacks. He tried to blink the dirt out of his eyes but was unsuccessful.  
"Very resourceful," he complimented.  
He turned his head and listened for any sounds. I nervously raised my sword defensively. I then slowly tried to sneak away, careful not to make any noises that would give away my location. Unfortunately, I stepped on a lone twig on the ground, snapping it.  
Dagon turned his head towards me when he heard it. He twirled his sword around into an offensive position and charged forward. I took a step back as Dagon closed in and stabbed at me. I parried the attack, but Dagon caught my blade with his own. He pushed my sword around in two circles and flung my sword out of my hands.  
I watched as the sword stabbed into the ground several feet away.  
I turned back and everything seemed to go by in slow motion as Dagon swung his sword in large, horizontal arc at me. I was not cut by the bade, but was instead hit in the chest by Dagon's arms, knocking me on my back.  
I looked up fearfully as Dagon turned and pointed his sword at my head. Odette, Kole, and Elise all jumped from the building to the ground and ran towards me and Dagon. He suddenly swung his sword away from me, halting Odette, Kole, and Elise.  
"Excellent work, Alana."  
I squinted up at him curiously. He raised his hand as he signaled to Grimms. Grimms flung the scabbard of Dagon's sword towards him. Still blinded, Dagon turned and pointed his sword upward, letting the scabbard fly right onto the blade.  
"I think I'm a little old to be fighting the Avatar," he said casually.  
Odette, Kole, and Elise were all in their bending stances. They came out of their stances and looked at each other in surprise.  
"How did you know?" Odette asked, not giving him the kindest of her looked.  
I stood back up as Grimms walked over, carrying a drink and a white cloth.  
"Oh, I've been around a while. You pick things up," the master said and wiped the dirt off his face with the cloth. "Of course, I knew from the beginning that Alana was Water Tribe. You might want to think of a better Fire Nation cover name. Try "Lee." There's a million 'Lees'…"  
He sipped his drink thoughtfully.  
Kole balked. "But why would you agree to train someone from the Water Tribe?"  
"The way of the sword doesn't belong to any one nation. Knowledge of the arts belongs to us all," he replied and gave his sword to Grimms. He pulled my sword out of the ground and gave it back to me. "Alana, you must continue your training on your own. If you stay on this path, I know that one day you will become an even greater master than I am."  
Odette, Kole, and I all smiled warmly.  
At the front gates, Dagon and I bowed to each other as I prepared to depart. I gave him a hug and before he could respond I took off and the gates closed behind us. We were halfway down the path when I heard he sound of running feet. I turned to see Grimms running up to us from behind.  
"Wait. The Master wanted you to have this, as something to remember him by," he said.  
Grimms gave me a small, brown bag. We all bowed a final farewell and Grimms walked back to the castle. I opened the bag and pulled out a white lotus Pai Sho tile.  
"It's a Pai Sho tile," I told the others.  
Odette looked at it thoughtfully. "The white lotus. Hm."  
Kole looked up. "What does it mean?"  
"I have no idea," I said, looking back at Grimms as he closed the doors. Odette and I looked back at the doors, taking notice in the lotus design on them surrounding the Fire Nation symbol. "Ooh, that reminds me. Elise, I thought you might like this since you've probably never had a chance to bend space earth before."  
I pulled from my pocket a chunk of the meteorite used to make my sword. I held the black space earth out as Elise took it.  
"Sweet. Check this out." She shaped it into a swirl, a star, and then a splatter shaped object.  
"You know, I don't think there's such a thing as "space earth." If it's from space, then it's not really earth," Kole said as we continued walking down the dirt road toward the setting sun.  
I groaned. "Must you ruin everything?"  
Kole huffed, annoyed. "I can't believe I missed you."


	5. Chapter 5: The Beach

Ren:

Irritated, I sat next to Naveen as our ship sailed over a calm sea. Suddenly, a giant Sea Lion pulling the ship burst through the surface with a shrill cry. Athera and Kenna were standing on the deck, Naveen and I sitting nearby on fluffy cushions under a red canopy.  
"I'm so excited to spend the weekend on Ember Island," Kenna said, as perky as ever. "It's gonna be great to hang out on the beach and do nothing."  
Kenna rested her hands behind her head and closed her eyes with a satisfied smile.  
"Doing nothing is a waste of time," I growled and stood up. I walked over to the balustrade, leaned on it and stared out to sea. "We're being sent away on a forced vacation. I feel like a child."  
"Lighten up. So dad wants to meet with his advisors alone... without anyone else around. Don't take it personally," Athera said.  
Probably because he knows you snoop on all of his meetings, I thought bitterly.  
I ignored her and continued looking out to sea, wishing more than ever that I was off this boat. I wasn't really all that upset about being forced to go to Ember Island…I was upset that I was going to be stuck with Naveen that entire time.  
Kenna gestured at her. "Doesn't your family have a house on Ember Island?"  
Athera turned toward her and shrugged. "We used to come every summer when we were kids."  
"That must've been fun!" Pinky - my nickname for Kenna - said, enthused.  
"That was a long time ago," I said darkly as the coastline came into view.  
We pulled into a remote, inland part of the island at small dock. A little ways up the beach were extravagant stilted Fire Nation beach bungalows. On the small dock, two familiar twin figures stood, waiting to greet us. We got off the boat and stood before the two smiling old women.  
Ava and Ella both spoke in unison, like usual. "Welcome to Ember Island, kids."  
I looked up and saw that instead of one of the nice ones, Ava and Ella's dock led up to a small shabby beach cottage. The four of us looked at each other, displeased and skeptical.  
It didn't get much better from there.  
When we go there, they led us into an ornate tropical room. They pushed aside a green curtained doorway through which Ava and Ella stepped. Athera walked skeptically into the room followed by Kenna and the rest of us.  
I wrinkled my nose in disgust as a pungent odor hit my nose. "It smells like old lady in here."  
"Gee, I wonder why," Naveen replied sarcastically, looking at me and clinging to my arm.  
Kenna walked over to a wall in the room and looked at a painting of two young twins, twins standing back to back in a symmetrical seductive pose. Ava and Ella approached her.  
"Who are these two beautiful women?" she asked.  
Ava and Ella stood on either side of the painting, smiling.  
"Can't you tell?" The elderly twins struck the identical seductive pose from the painting. "It's Ava/Ella and me."  
The elderly twin's rear ends touched while the four stood looking on, confused and slightly disgusted. Feeling bile rise in my throat, I covered my mouth to prevent myself from getting sick. Shaking herself out of the disgust, Kenna walked over to a Maroon printed bead spread and lied back on it.  
She snuggled against the pillow. "Ooh, I love this seashell bedspread!"  
"Are you serious? It looked like the beach threw up all over it," Naveen droned.  
`Course you'd say that, I thought.  
Kenna still snuggled her seashell bed spread as the rest of us stood and half-listened to Ava and Ella.  
"We know you're upset that you were forced to come here this weekend. But Ember Island is a magical place. Keep an open mind," Ava said.  
"Give it a chance…" seconded Ella.  
"...and it can help you understand yourselves and each other," they finally said together.  
Ava grabbed one of the smooth stones resting on table and passed it to her sister. "The beach has a special way of smoothing even the most ragged edges."  
Kenna joined our group and Athera yawned in boredom.  
In an identical series of motions, the twins clapped and striped off their robes, revealing their elderly bodies in swimwear. "Time to hit the beach!"  
Yep here comes my lunch.  
Naveen sighed and covered my eyes.

Odette:

After Alana got out of her depressed mood, we decided to take a broke from training and go swimming in a crater filled with water at the top.  
Elise watched me as I splashed lazily about. "Odette, I know swimming is fun and all, but do you really think you should be exposing yourself like that. Cover up!"  
I looked up from where I was floating through the water, Fang curled up on my chest. "What? I'm wearing my wrap."  
Elise was sitting on the rocks in front of us while Kole waded in the water.  
"I know...it's your tattoos I'm worried about," she said and raised her arms in frustration. "What if someone sees you?"  
Kole turned toward Elise. "There are walls all around us. It's completely safe."  
I smiled and floated past them. Fang suddenly perked up and I turned to notice something ahead and smiled. I spotted rapids and a tunnel ahead of us. Eager, I turned and propelled myself down the turned. I sped down through a water-slide like tunnel. Fang was firmly latched onto my head as they sped through the twists and turns.  
"Whoo, hey!" I cried out as I whizzed through it, still riding the water slide tunnel and laughing.

Ren:

We walked along the black crescent shaped coastline, surrounded by green flatland cliffs. The beach was scattered with people and red and yellow beach tents. There were some smaller beach bungalows, as well as some larger, more magnificent properties interspersed around the cliff face. A kid holding a skim board threw it on to the wash and rode along the waves.  
Athera, Kenna, Naveen, and I walked along the beach, through crowds of beach-goers. Naveen and I shared an umbrella, much to my utter delight. Not too far up ahead of us, two young boys building an elaborate sand castle were playing.  
Since they were apparently in her way, Athera's foot came down and crushed their castle, smashing it to smithereens. They looked up to see her looming triumphantly over the castle, Kenna standing next to her smiling.  
The two boys scampered away in fear as my sister kicked their sand pale after them, smirking in amusement.  
Kenna stood somewhat confused with a large pink beach bag over her shoulder. A gawky young fire nation teen boy suddenly sprung over to her.  
"Hey, you need some help unpacking?" he asked her eagerly as Naveen and I walked past, me rolling my eyes.  
"Sure, thanks," she said and dumped her enormous bag into the teens awaiting arms, knocking him to the ground. The boy crouched by the bag, unpacking. He quickly threw every item out one at a time, lastly pulling out Kenna's pink towel. He smiled and laid the towel out with a flourish as Athera looked on, wearing the same expression of annoyance that I did. The boy hastened to make her towel perfectly straight as Athera turned away in jealousy. Kenna sat down and looked up at the boy, squinting into the sun.  
"Could you scooch just a little bit more to the…" The boy stood confused and then quickly moved to block out the sun for Kenna. "Perfect."  
She winked.  
While Pinky got her flirt on, Naveen and I huddled together under an umbrella. A small child ran by laughing. Bored, I looked to the side and spotted a seashell. Hoping to strike up some sort of conversation, I picked it up and handed the shell to Naveen.  
"Here…" I said, bringing the shell toward her. "This is for you."  
She looked at me blankly. "Why would I want that?"  
I shrugged, deflating as I looked at her. "I saw it and I thought it was pretty. Don't girls like stuff like this?"  
Naveen turned away from me. "Maybe stupid girls."  
Like you?  
I threw the shell away in anger, wishing I could have picked someone else for my distraction. "Forget it!"  
I watched as the shell landed next to a robust Fire Nation Teen boy. The boy looked up, surveying the beach and spotted Kenna who was still being shaded by the first boy. Kenna flipped her hair and laughed and the second boy gawked stupidly and then blushed and smiled. The first boy was still patiently shading Kenna and smiling. Suddenly the second boy crouched in front of him and presented the shell discarded by me and to Kenna.  
Kenna took the shell and smiled cutely. "Wow, thanks. This is so pretty."  
"Not as pretty as you are," he said smoothly as the first looked on hotly.  
The first one moved to the side to get a closer look at the shell. "That shell's not so great!"  
"Ahem, shade... shade!" Kenna cried as the sun glared down into her eyes.  
While all this was going on, I got up and walked over to an ice-cream stand and bought two ice-creams for Naveen and I. I know I didn't like the girl…like even a little cause she made me want to light my head on fire…but I still needed her to keep my mind of things and I knew I needed to step it up a notch or I was going to lose her.  
Naveen was still sitting under the umbrella when I returned. I walked up holding the two ice-cream cones and joined her under the umbrella.  
"I thought since it's so hot... Here." I handed her an ice cream cone, but the scoop of ice cream fell off the cone into Naveen's lap.  
She looked down at the ice cream with the dead eyes of a shark. "Thanks. This is really…refreshing."  
I groaned and looked over at Athera. She was watching as a Fire Nation girl flew forward toward a ball and hit it with her hand. There was a group of Fire Nation teens playing volley ball in a circular court. I watched as my sister smirked menacingly.  
"Hey, beach bums, we're playing next," she said. "Kenna, get over here now!"  
Kenna rolled off her towel into a handstand and walked over on her hands, smiling, causing the three boys who were trying to impress her to drool.  
Not looking forward to this, I stood up and threw off my shirt, the wind blowing my hair to the side. Four Fire Nation teen girls cooed, giggling and blushing over me, as they stared at my lean and tone muscles that came from training for three years. Ignoring them, I walked over to the court as Athera, Naveen, Kenna and I huddled together.  
"See that girl with the silly pigtails?" Athera said and the rest of us looked up toward the volleyball players, zeroing in on a pig tailed Fire Nation Teen girl kicking the ball around.  
"When she ran towards the ball, there's just the slightest hesitation of her left foot. I'm willing to bet a childhood injury has weakened her. Keep serving the ball to her left and we'll destroy her, and the rest of her team," my sister continued, looking menacing. "Dismissed!"  
Athera, Naveen, Kenna, and I were one side of the court, across the net was the other team. We served first.  
Athera threw the ball up toward the sun and then launched it toward the other team, who missed it completely. We served it again and they hit it back so I slid for the ball and kicked it up into the air. Athera ran toward it, spun around and smacked it toward the pig-tailed girl. The pig-tailed girl dove but missed the ball completely. The ball flew over a crowd of Fire Nation teens and landed next to two Fire Nation Teen boys who now noticed the game. They tossed the ball back and watched as the other team hit it over the net. Kenna zoomed through the air toward the ball, kicked it, and then landed like a tight ropewalker on the net. The two boys watched her, looking amused.  
We served again and scored a few more points before they finally hit one back. Naveen ran toward the ball and hit it with her knee. The two boys from before were looking even more amused and impressed.  
As we prepared to take our last point, Athera ran up my back, propelling herself into the air, kicking the ball with all her power. The ball zoomed toward the ground, catching flame. The ball landed in a fiery explosion, setting fire to the net.  
The opposing team looked at Athera through the volley ball net, which was on fire. She looked sinister, which was actually pretty natural.  
"Yes, we defeated you for all time! You will never rise from the ashes of your shame and humiliation!" she snarled in a crazed voice, her fingers curled into claws. She turned casually towards the rest of us. "Well, that was fun."  
Psycho path.  
Athera and our team was joined by the two boys who were watching from before and, of course, they approached Kenna.  
"I'm having a party tonight," he said. "You should come by."  
Kenna turned toward them with a bright smile. "Sure...I love parties!"  
One of the boys indicated to Naveen and I bristled. "Your friend can come, too."  
Kenna smiled innocently as Athera approached them.  
"What about me and my brother?" she questioned, crossing her arms in displeasure. "Aren't you going to invite us? You don't know who we are, do you?"  
The boys looked at one another skeptically.  
"Don't you know who we are? We're Trey and Dallas, one of them said and gave a cool smile.  
Dallas smirked. "Yeah."  
Athera and Kenna looked at them, pleased as I walked forward, fists clinched angrily. Athera put her arm out to stop me and I glared furiously at the morons.  
Trey looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "But fine, you're invited. Just so you know though, some of the most important teenagers in the Fire Nation are gonna be at this party so...try and act normal."  
Athera smiled in an evil manner, as we stood behind her.  
"We'll do our best."

Athera:

Back at the small beach house, Ella, Ava, Ren, Naveen, Kenna, and I were all sitting around a hexagonal table on the balcony outside and eating an elaborate meal. I smirked at my brother and his little girlfriend. Naveen was usually very smart, but when it came to him, she was dumber than a post. It was so obvious he was playing her like a fiddle…using her for his own agenda and not because he actually liked her. I had never felt so close to him.  
"Why didn't you tell those guys who we were?" Ren asked, bitter as usual.  
"I guess I was intrigued," I admitted. "I'm so used to people worshipping us."  
Kenna smiled from where she sat next to me. "They should."  
"Yes, I know, and I love it! But for once, I just wanted to see how people would treat us if they didn't know who we were," I explained.  
"Like waves washing away the footprints on the sand," Ava and Ella said as Ren and Naveen ate and leaned against one another. "Ember Island gives everyone a clean slate. Ember Island reveals the true you."  
The twins both stood up and clapped twice. They then raised one arm in excitement. "To the party!"

Ren:

We went to the party after dinner. It was taking place in large stilted mansion on the Cliffside of Ember Island. Athera tapped confidentially on the ornate gold knocker on a large wooden door. The door opened to reveal Trey looking displeased.  
"Um…You're a little early. No one's here yet," he said.  
"I heard you telling someone you'd be partying from dusk till dawn," Athera said and looked out at the horizon. "It's dusk so we're here."  
"But that's just an expression," he replied.  
Athera ignored his rude tone and continued.  
"We are the perfect party guests. We arrive right on time because we are very punctual," she said and made a chopping motion with her left hand, hitting her right hand as she said 'punctual'.  
Trey shrugged and gestured for us to come inside. We walked into the large entryway, with a large table covered with food at the center.  
"All right, listen, My dad's an admiral. He has no idea I'm having this party," Trey said as we walked in. "So don't mess anything up."  
Athera looked at him, menacing as they stood next to one another.  
"That's a sharp outfit, Trey...careful," she said, looking intense and somewhat crazy. "You could puncture the hull of an Empire-Class Fire Nation Battleship, leaving thousands to drown at sea…"  
I shook my head slightly as she pointed at his outfit.  
"Because it's so sharp," she finished awkwardly.  
"Um…" Trey pointed less enthusiastically at Athera. "Thanks."  
Athera beamed with an enthusiastic smile, which quickly turned to a frown as Trey walked away. Dallas was combing his hair in a mirror. He saw Athera and us walk by in the background. He turned toward us with a seductive smile.  
"Hey, first ones here, huh?" he said with a wink at Naveen.  
She smiled back as we walked side by side.  
"Pft. He thinks he's so great," I growled and turned to Naveen. "Well, what do you think of him?"  
We stopped walking.  
"I don't have any opinion about him. I hardly know him," she replied darkly and I rolled my eyes.  
"You like him, don't you?" I accused. Great, the one distraction I had and I was going to lose it.  
Naveen sighed and walked away, as I looked angrily in the direction of Dallas.

Athera:

I looked over at Kenna as she was - once again - surrounded by over half the boys in the room. She was such a foolish little toy…did she really believe that these men likes her? They only wanted one thing after all.  
"So how do you know Kenna?" one asked.  
"I met her at the beach today. She was pretty impressed by a sand pagoda that I made for her," another said.  
"Well, I met her first," another cried out, bursting forward desperately.  
Kenna was now being cornered by a gaggle of Fire Nation Teen boys, eager to impress her.  
"Look, it doesn't matter who I met first 'cause I like you all," she said sweetly and I rolled my eyes.  
The boys leaned in even closer to her.  
"But which one of us do you like?" one of them asked.  
"Yeah. Tell us," they al chorused.  
Kenna looked confused and gestured for everyone to back-off.  
"I don't know, I don't know!"  
She did a series of punches and kicks. our group of huddle of boys slowly fell toward the ground after being knocked out by Kenna. Kenna cart-wheeled through her newly cleared path. She approached me from where I stood angrily in the corner.  
"Oh, I'm glad you're here. Those boys won't leave me alone. I guess they all just like me too much," she said dumbly.  
"Come on, Kenna, you can't be this ignorant," I snapped.  
Kenna looked at me, confused. "What are you talking about?"  
Leaning coolly against a wooden beam, I fixed her with a harsh glare. "Those boys only like you because you make it so easy for them. You're not a challenge. You're a tease. It's not like they actually care who you are."  
Kenna suddenly burst into tears and covered her eyes. Not wanting to make a scene and yes - feeling a little guilty - I grabbed Kenna's hands in a comforting gesture. "Ok, ok, calm down. I didn't mean what I said."  
She didn't look convinced.  
"Look, maybe I just said it because I was a little…" I sighed and lowered my voice to a whisper, embarrassed. "Jealous."  
"What? You were jealous of me?" she said in surprise, gesturing toward herself. "Um, but, you're the most beautiful, smartest, perfect girl in the world."  
I turned away from her. "Well, you're right about all those things. But for some reason when I meet boys they act as if I'm going to do something horrible to them."  
Kenna laughed lightly. "But you probably would do something horrible to them."  
So true.  
I turned back toward Kenna, a bit sad.  
"I'm sure they're just intimidated by you. Ok, look, if you want a boy to like you just look at him and smile a lot and laugh at everything he says, even if it's not funny," she said.  
"Well, that sounds really shallow and stupid." I had looked down when I'd said this but now looked up, grinning. "Let's try it."  
Kenna leaned against a wooden beam, posing coolly and pretending to be a boy.  
"Ok. 'Hey, there sweet sugar cakes," she said and pointed coolly toward Athera. "How ya likin' this party?"  
I laughed loudly and unnaturally, drawing the attention of everyone at the party.

Ren:

Naveen and I were sitting together on a bench, watching my sister make a fool of herself trying to impress people. Naveen's arms are crossed and she looked displeased.  
"I'm bored," she sighed.  
I rolled my eyes at her, annoyed. Who wasn't bored?  
A Fire Nation Teen Boy walked across in front of us, holding a tropical drink.  
"I know," I replied tiredly, exhausted of her tonight.  
"I'm hungry."  
"So what?"  
"So, find me some food."  
"Sure." Thankful to be rid of her for a while, I got up and walked away. Keeping her around simply just to use her was turning out to be a lot more works than it was worth…

Athera:

I spotted Trey talking to a Fire Nation teen girl and I approached them confidently.  
"Trey, I'm ready for a tour of the house," I said, smiling seductively and speaking in a bright tone, like Kenna.  
Trey handed his drink to the Fire Nation teen girl and gestured for me to follow him. I placed my drink on the same Fire Nation teen girl's head. The drink started to steam in the Fire Nation girl's anger as Trey and I walked out on to a balcony.  
"Is this your first time on Ember Island?" he asked me as he shut the door, closing us off from the bright lights and noise.  
"No, I used to come here years ago," I replied.  
We walked over to the railing and leaned on the balcony. "It's a great place if you like sand."  
I forced a smile and an enthusiastic laugh.  
"Yeah, it's like," Trey, encouraged, stood up and gestured to the ocean. "'Welcome to Sandy Land.'"  
We both laughed and Trey, looking please, came and stood right next to me.  
"Your arms look so strong," I said, eyeing him hungrily.  
"Yeah, I know," he said and flexed, and then kissed me.  
Bingo.  
"You're pretty," he said when he pulled away.  
I quickly stood and raised my arms toward the sky. "Together, you and I will be the strongest couple in the entire world." The torch behind me turned blue and the balcony was filled with a menacing blue light. "We will dominate the Earth!"  
Blue fire balls burst from my hands.  
Trey was in complete shock. A bird comically flew behind him and a large sweat drop appeared on his forehead. He shook himself out of it.  
"Uh... I gotta go."  
He smiled awkwardly, and scooted his way around the balcony and back in to the party as I was left alone.  
I looked after him, totally confused.

Ren:

I monotonously prepared a plate of food and then walked through the crowd of party guests. One of them accidentally knocked my plate to the ground with an over-zealous gesture. My eye twitched angrily as the food smashed to the ground.  
I spun and yelled angrily at the boy who accidentally knocked the plate. "Hey, watch it! That food was for my cranky girlfriend."  
I stabbed at finger in the direction of Naveen.  
The boy smirked and I looked back to see Dallas leaning over Naveen. I rushed toward them angrily and pushed Dallas away from her.  
No one was taking her away from me…I'd already lost so much and I needed her to keep from going crazy.  
Dallas spun and then straightened his hair out.  
"Whoa. What are you doing?" he asked, irritated.  
"Stop talking to my girlfriend!" I snarled.  
Dallas approached me casually. "Relax, it's just a party."  
Enraged, I pushed Dallas hard, sending him flying across the room, breaking a giant vase.  
Naveen stood up and grabbed my shoulder. Furious and really not wanting to talk to her, I turned towards her. "Ren, what is wrong with you?!"  
"What's wrong with me?!" I yelled.  
Naveen waved her arms at me angrily, getting in my face. "Your temper's out of control. You blow up over every little thing. You're so impatient and hot-headed and angry."  
"Well, at least I feel something...as opposed to you. You have no passion for anything," I hissed nastily, my words flowing freely now as everything I had held back from her came rushing to the surface. I raised my arms is the air. "You're just a big "blah"."  
Naveen, hurt, turned away from me. "It's over, Ren. We're done."  
Oh wow, the Ice Queen actually cares.  
Trey ran over to the broken pieces of vase on the floor.  
"Who broke my Nana's vase?" Dallas pointed at me and Trey ran over to me and gestured for me to leave immediately. "That's it, you're out of here."  
"I was just leaving," I growled, making him flinch in fear.  
I walked away.  
Dallas, Trey and Naveen stood in a row behind me, looking after me darkly.  
"Have fun by yourself, loser boy," Dallas called.  
Trey looked at Dallas and smiled. "Nice."  
Trust me, I would be much better off on my own. I always had been after all…  
I walked out the door alone and slammed it shut behind me.  
I walked down the beach, my head bent down as a misty wind blew over me, spraying ocean water. I walking around some rocks, not really paying attention to where I was going, and then looked upward. A large Fire Nation mansion nestled in the mountain face was before me.  
Home…  
As I headed toward it, I stopped and then looked out at the sea.  
A flash and a golden scene appeared before my eyes, with a man and two small children running happily through a field. In another flash I was back to staring at the black sea and I continued my assent. Before I knew it I was standing before the doorway to the mansion.  
A second memory flashed through my mind…a man holding a baby in the air next to a small boy building a sandcastle by the sea. Everyone looked happy.  
And then mother went away…  
I approached the doors to the mansion. I pulled at the door, but it was locked.  
Could nothing go right for me for just a moment?  
Annoyed, I kicked it open and the doors slammed against the walls as I looked around the dusty great room. I walked up another set of stairs and stood before a very familiar family portrait.  
It was Fire Lord Mordred, Mother, Athera and I sitting together. In the painting, I was young, and sat at my father's side before he had burned me and sent me away.  
Another memory, this one of me - still young - looking out at the sea, with my father's arm on my shoulder.  
What a joke that had been…a sham. My father had never loved me or willingly touched me. He only put a good face on for the public, appearing as the loving, doting father that the entire nation loved…the man who could do no wrong. Well, he had wronged me…and one day he was going to pay for it.  
I shook my head, coming back to the present day. I stared at the portrait for a while longer, my eyes panning over every inch of it before they finally rested on Mother's face. Another flash and a golden scene of Elena happily playing with a baby I.  
Looking into her familiar, warm eyes, I had another memory come to mind…this one the most painful.  
I walked forward and picked up a circular piece of concrete with a baby's hand stamped in it…my hand. I put my own adult hand on top of the small print, closing my eyes as I remembered the day my mother and I had cast this.  
I sighed and looked around some more, standing alone in the great hall.

Odette:

Emrys, Elise, Alana, Kole, and I were sleeping near the water in the same place where we had been swimming in earlier.  
I was almost asleep when I not only felt but heard a loud thump and Elise's eyes suddenly opened, waking up Fang as we both shot up.  
"Guys, you're all gonna think I'm crazy, but it feels like a metal man is coming," she said as Alana and Kole sat up behind me.  
Suddenly, a bright light shined in my sleepy eye, making me squint. I rubbed my eye and looked toward the light source. It was coming from a strange, really giant man, who stood at the top of the crater's cliff. I looked at the man's metal arm, which was causing moonlight to reflect toward me.  
When our eyes met, he growled menacingly and breathed inward.  
Okay…I'm guessing not a friend.  
Scared for myself and my friend, I ran forward. The man's stomach sucked inward as he breathed in deeply. A beam of some sort suddenly came out of the man's forehead and headed straight toward me. It hit a nearby cliff and exploded.  
The others and I were blown backward in the explosion. Elise steadied herself and bended a large herd of rocks toward the man. The man shot another beam, destroying the rocks and creating an explosion right in front of Elise. Kole attempted to stop his next explosion with water bending, but his efforts were turned into a cloud of steam.  
Emrys roared ferociously as the man stood in the great steam cloud.

Ren:

In the mansion, I sat on the steps holding my childhood handprint, thinking of my mother and how disappointed of me she would be right now. If she would have been around, she would have lectured me on what I had done to Uncle and Odette…what I had done to myself.  
"I thought I'd find you here," Athera's voice said, braking my musings as she approached the mansion.  
I was still looking at my small handprint when she came up.  
"Those summers we spent here seem so long ago. So much has changed," I said, saddened.  
She sighed and gestured down the steps. "Come down to the beach with me. Come on, this place is depressing."  
I followed her set down the handprint, leaving it alone on the porch. It was time for me to leave my mother behind…she had been gone for a long while now, and there was no point in grieving over the past. Athera and I walked side by side a ways down the beach toward Naveen and Kenna.  
Naveen looked up toward me and then looked away, angry and a bit sad.  
Wow…I scream at her and she actually shows emotion for once, maybe that should be my tactic from now on. Whatever I did…I had to get her back first. I knew it was wrong and admittedly I did feel guilty about it…but I needed her. She was the only thing that was able to distract me from Odette and my father and everything else for a while.  
"Hey…"  
As soon as I heard her voice, I bristled…an instant reflex. Already irritated with her I interrupted.  
"Where's your new boyfriend?" I growled and she turned away angrily. Groaning mentally, I came and sat next to her. "Are you cold?"  
Not really wanting to, just going with motions, I put my arm around her, but she slapped it away.  
"I'm freezing," Kenna said, shivering.  
"I'll make a fire," I reassured her, smiling slightly as I looked upward toward the cliffside and then at the mansion. "There's plenty of stuff to burn in there."

Odette:

The strange man growled again as he shot another beam from his forehead. The beam flew through the cloud of steam toward some rocks and exploding.  
How this this possible? People were not supposed to shoot things from their forehead!  
My friends and I were hiding behind a rock, crouched and covering our heads from the explosion. When everything stilled for a moment, we sat back up.  
"This is crazy! How can we beat a guy who blows things up with my mind?" Alana yelled, her eyes wide in terror.  
I crawled forward and looked around. "We can. Jump on Emrys. I'll try to distract him."  
I ran into the cloud of steam and disappeared for a moment, emerging from the top of the cloud and springing up the cliff face. Another beam exploded next to me and I jumped down the other side of the cliff, the orange cloud from the explosion still behind me. I slid down the back of the cliff into a field full of rock pillars.  
I ran through the pillars, the man close behind me, his feet thundering with very step. I chose one pillar and hid behind it. The man slid down the back of the cliff face toward me.  
I was breathing hard, my heard hammering in my chest, my back to a pillar. Hesitantly, I peeked around the pillar and saw the man who also saw me and stopped.  
He shot a beam toward me and my pillar exploded.  
Terrified, I ran toward another one but it also exploded. Giving up on hiding, I bounced from pillar to pillar, stopping behind one. I earthbended the pillar toward the man, but it exploded before hitting him. Another beam was directed toward me and I bended a wall of air around the explosion and was sent flying backward. I flew through the night sky for a moment and then turned and punched through an on-coming pillar of rocks.  
The man ran though the field of pillars after me. I stopped where I should have landed and looked around and hid inside a wall of rocks, with only my eyes visible.  
The man stopped and took another look at my pillar. I burst through covered in rock armor and I was sent flying into the air.  
As I fell back downward toward the earth, Emrys flew past and picked me up.  
"I'm ok," I huffed, out of breath as Kole fussed over me.  
"Well, that was random," Elise commented.  
Kole frowned, looking back at the man and me worriedly. "I don't think so. I get the feeling he knows who we are."

Ren:

I looked at my family portrait one last time before throwing it into the flames. I watched as my young face in the picture as it burned to ashes.  
I was standing over the fire I had just built as Kenna sat nearby.  
When she saw what I had tossed in she frowned, confused. "What are you doing?"  
"What does it look like I'm doing?" I shot back.  
"But it's a painting of your family," she replied sadly.  
"You think I care?"  
She looked at me. "I think you do."  
Yeah right…I didn't even know myself anymore.  
"You don't know me, so why don't you just mind your own business!" I snapped and turned away from her.  
Kenna looked down and spoke softly. "I know you."  
"No, you don't." I waved my arm angrily. "You're stuck in your little Kenna world, where everything's great all the time."  
Naveen, who was sitting on a rock near the fire, looked toward me angrily. "Ren, leave her alone."  
Like I'm going to take orders from you.  
"'I'm so pretty, look at me. I can walk on my hands, whoo!'" I said mockingly and did a hand stand. Kenna looked sad at my words as I glared at her upside down. I let myself fall to the sand. "Circus freak!"  
Kenna began to cry and Athera laughed at me.  
"Yes, I'm a circus freak. Go ahead and laugh all you want," she snapped, gesturing toward Athera, who looked away. "You wanna know why I joined the circus?"  
Athera sighed loudly. "Here we go."  
"Do you have any idea what my home life was like, growing up with six sisters who look exactly like me? It was like, I didn't even have my own name." She fell to the ground crying. "I joined the circus because I was scared of spending the rest of my life as part of a matched set. At least, I'm different now. Circus freak is a compliment!"  
"Guess that explains why you need 10 boyfriends, too," Naveen said sarcastically.  
Kenna looked angrily toward her friend and put her hands on her hips.  
"I'm sorry, what?"  
"Attention issues. You couldn't get enough attention when you were a kid, so," Naveen said, looking downward. "You're trying to make up for it now."  
Kenna, who had moved closer and closer to Naveen with each accusation, was fuming.  
"Well, what's your excuse, Naveen? You were an only child for 15 years, but even with all that attention, your aura is this dingy, pasty, gray…"  
"I don't believe in auras."  
Course not.  
I stood up, fed up with her gloomy depressing state. "Yeah, you don't believe in anything."  
Looked back at me, depressed like usual. "Oh, well, I'm sorry I can't be as high-strung and crazy as the rest of you."  
Irritated, I walked closer to the fire and Naveen.  
"I'm sorry, too. I wish you would be high-strung and crazy for once," I growled as she looked away and I stood over her. "Instead of keeping all your feelings bottled up inside. She just called your aura dingy. Are you gonna take that?"  
Yes…because she was pathetic. She disgusted me…I hated the fact that she just sat back and let people run over her. She didn't care about anything.  
Naveen laid back carelessly on the rock she was sitting on. "What do you want from me? You want a teary confession about how hard my childhood was? Well, it wasn't. I was a rich only child who got anything I wanted. As long as I behaved…and sat still…and didn't speak unless spoken to. My mother said I had to keep out of trouble. We had my Dad's political career to think about."  
"Well, that's it, then," Athera said. "You had a controlling mother who had certain expectations, and if you strayed from them you were shut down. That's why you're afraid to care about anything, and why you can't express yourself."  
"You want me to express myself?" Naveen hissed. She suddenly stood and yelled. "Leave me alone!"  
That was more like it.  
I stared at her as she glared daggers at everyone. It was a nice change up from her usual blank look.  
"I like it when you express yourself," I said and reached for her, but she backed away.  
"Don't touch me. I'm still mad at you," she yelled and I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Ugh this girl was so not worth the trouble.  
"My life hasn't been that easy, either, Naveen."  
Naveen interrupted me with a biting tone.  
"Whatever- that doesn't excuse the way you've been acting."  
"Calm down, you guys. This much negative energy is bad for your skin. You'll totally broke out," Kenna said and I flinched.  
I turned on her angrily and she cringed. "Bad skin? Normal teenagers worry about bad skin. I don't have that luxury. My father decided to teach me a permanent lesson on my face."  
I pointed toward my scar furiously.  
"Sorry, Ren, I…"  
I walked away from them wishing I was somewhere else far away…wishing I had never come home.  
"For so long, I thought that if my dad accepted me, I'd be happy. I'm back home, now my dad talks to me. Huh, he even thinks I'm a hero." Athera smiled at these words, fanning the flames of my rage. "Everything should be perfect, right? I should be happy now, but I'm not. I'm angrier than ever and I don't know why."  
That was a lie…I knew exactly why I was angry. I was angry at everything I had done, all the mistakes I had made. I wanted to rewind time back to when Odette and I were in the catacombs. I wanted to walk towards Uncle instead of choosing Athera…I knew that if I had just sucked it up and been a man about it, I probably would have been a lot happier right now.  
"There's a simple question you need to answer then," Athera said and leaned forward. "Who are you angry at?"  
"No one," I looked down. "I'm just angry."  
"Yeah, who are you angry at, Ren?" Naveen asked.  
"Everyone…" I covered my ears in frustration, feeling like my mind was going to explode. "I don't know."  
"Is it Dad?" Athera asked.  
"No, no!" I snapped thought that was part of it.  
"Your uncle?" Kenna asked.  
"Me?" Athera said.  
I shook my head in frustration. "No, no... No, no."  
Naveen narrowed her eyes. "Then who? Who are you angry at?"  
"Answer the question, Ren," Athera said sternly.  
Kenna turned pleading. "Talk to us."  
My mind felt like it was going to explode, confused and frightened.  
"Come on, answer the question," Naveen urged.  
"Come on, answer it," Athera seconded.  
I suddenly exploded and I yelled furiously. "I'm angry at myself!"  
I threw my arms down and the campfire burst into a column of flame. The girls covered their eyes to protect ourselves from the fire. Wind and embers flew through my blowing hair. The fire burned out and the beach grew dark.  
"Why?" Athera asked.  
Because I hated that I had to use Naveen…out of all the girls I knew…to be a distraction. I was furious because the only reason why I needed said distraction was because I couldn't seem to let go of the girl who I had been taught from birth was my sworn enemy. I hated the fact that I had betrayed my Uncle, the one man who had actually been a father to me and had always done everything he possibly could for me. And most of all, I hated myself for what I had done to Odette…I loved her but I was too afraid of what the others would think to do anything about it, and now she was probably gone for good now that I send an assassin after her. And I let myself be this way…I let myself suffer in silence because I was afraid…a coward. I was a weak, pathetic excuse for a man, for a noble prince of the Fire Nation.  
I looked out at the sea while Athera stared at me.  
"Because I'm confused. Because I'm not sure I know the difference between right and wrong anymore," I said.  
Athera snorted mockingly. "You're pathetic."  
I ignored her as Naveen approached me and put her arm around me.  
"I know one thing I care about…" she said, smiling. "I care about you."  
Naveen and I kissed and Odette's face…as usual, flashed behind my eyes, making me wince. Athera clapped, causing us to thankfully separate and turn toward her.  
Athera was still clapping slowly as she spoke. "Well, those were wonderful performances, everyone."  
"I guess you wouldn't understand," I said sarcastically and pulled Naveen to me. "Would you, Athera. Because you're just so perfect."  
"Well, yes, I guess you're right. I don't have sob stories like all of you. I could sit here and complain how our mom liked I more than me, but I don't really care. My own mother...thought I was a monster," she said, the embers from the burnt out fire reflecting in her eyes. Kenna looked at her concerned. "She was right, of course, but it still hurt."  
"What Ella and Ava said came true. The beach did help us learn about ourselves," Kenna said and picked up a smooth stone. "I feel all smoothed. I'll always remember this."  
"You know what would make this trip really memorable?" Athera suddenly asked, looking devious.

Athera:

Oh this was just beautiful…  
Trey opened the door of his house. The party was still going on behind him and when he saw us he looked very confused.  
"We've got some bad news, Trey," I said, smirking.  
Ren's turned toward him threateningly.  
"Party's over."  
We rushed in past him roughly and I grabbed an antique vase, smashing on the floor. Ren kicked a table full of food in half as party-goers ran away screaming, Trey full of fear. Naveen threw a knife down a wall cutting five tapestries in half. Trey who was still in shock and looked up suddenly to where Kenna was crouched in the rafters. She swung down and pulled down two chandeliers which came crashing to the floor.  
Trey started sobbing with I stood behind him, my arms crossed and pleased.  
When we were finished destroying the house, Kenna, Naveen, Ren, and were I linked arm in arm, very pleased with ourselves as a wall of flame roared right behind us.


	6. Chapter 6: The Avatar and the Firelord

Odette:

I was in a dream of some sort…an Avatar infused one.  
Koren emerged through a wall of fire, speaking to me through a dream.  
"Odette, it's time you learned my history with Fire Lord Ezra. You need to understand how the war began, if you want to know how to end it. Meet me on my home island on the day of the summer solstice," he said.  
The dream changed, and a familiar island in the Fire Nation with two volcanoes was now shown to me.  
"Okay, Koren," I whispered and felt myself returning to a dreamless state.

Ren:

I laid in my room, sleeping on my side. Footsteps could be heard in the hallway outside my door. The sound woke me and I started, jumping to my feet and rushing to the hall to investigate.  
I whipped opened the door and saw a mysterious cloaked figure disappear down the hall into the darkness. As I gazed down the hall, a strong breeze blew through the drapes of the hall, making them billow slightly. Confused and still a little startled, I started off after the figure but was distracted by a scroll placed upright in the hall. Surprised, I picked up the scroll and began to read.  
"You need to know the story of your great-grandfather's demise. It will reveal your own destiny," I read aloud.  
I closes the scroll and processed what the note could mean. Intrigued, I stared down the hallway after the figure, the drapes still rustling from the breeze.

Odette:

We flew under a bright blue, cloud filled sky.  
Inside a very large cloud, I was positioned on the neck of Emrys, bending the elements around her to create a cloud of camouflage. My arms moved quickly around my body in a circular motion. Kole and Alana looked over Emrys's saddle for a better look as we landed on the island Koren had directed me to in my dreams.  
The island was unnervingly desolate.  
"This is it. Koren's home," I said as we drew closer.  
Kole looked at it, confused. "But there's nothing here."  
Well duh, he's dead.  
Elise jumped from Emrys's saddle. Once her feet hit the ground, she solemnly told Kole and the rest of us what she could see with her unique vision.  
"Yes, there is. An entire village. Hundreds of houses," she said somberly as a strong breeze moved a layer of ash along the ground, brushing past our feet. "All completely buried in ash."

Ren:

As I walked by a large window, I looked out at the amazing Fire Nation City, surrounded by walls that appeared to have been made by waves of lava.  
I was in a large and impressive hall, full of paintings of Fire Nation Royalty. Stopping, I stood before one of the portraits.  
I couldn't stop thinking about last night, and what that stupid note had meant. How could knowing my ancestors past help reveal my destiny. I already had it in my grasp…didn't I?  
Athera passed by me, and made a suggestion.  
"It's never too early for a sitting with the court painter, Ren," she said sarcastically. "Make sure he gets your good side."  
That was a low blow.  
Anger glinted through me and I ignored her, upset with my sister's off color comment. On the other hand…she might be able to help me out with my little problem. Grudgingly, I turned to speak to her as she continued down the hall.  
"Wait. I need to ask you something. What do you remember about our Great-Grandfather's history?"  
Athera sighed as she turned back to me. "Ah, Ren. It's so strange how your mind works."  
She came over and stood next to me, standing before the portrait I had been staring at. My gaze rested on Ezra's face, a comet arching in flight over his head.  
"Fire Lord Ezra began the war, of course. He spent his early years secretly preparing for it, but he was as patient as he was clever. He famously waited for the comet, later renamed Ezra's comet, and used its power to launch his full-scale invasion of the world. In the end, he died a very old and successful man," she said.  
I looked at her, confused. "But how did he die?"  
"Didn't you pay any attention in school, Ren?" Athera began to walk away. "He died peacefully, in his sleep. He was ancient."  
I stared at her and then back at the picture and my face furrowed in frustration.

Odette:

On Koren's island, we were sitting on the tip of a hardened wave of lava. I was facing the ocean which was ablaze in gold and orange as the sun set. I was meditating, trying to figure out what it was Koren wanted me to do and soon enough my arrows glowed as I transitioned into the spirit world.  
I'll tell ya, it was a lot easier getting in and out of the avatar state now that I had learned how to master it.  
I was sitting atop a mountain top in an alternate reality, or in other words the Spirit World. I was surrounded by an ocean of clouds.  
As I got to my feet, Koren's dragon flew by and behind me. Koren smiled gently, and a breeze tussled his white hair and beard.

Ren:

That night, I was in my room, laying on my back on my bed.  
I rolled over on my side and stared at the puzzling scroll for the hundredth time to day. Not being able to stand it and knowing I was never going to get to sleep, I picked up the scroll and read it to myself again.  
"What does it mean?" I growled in frustration.  
Annoyed, I tossed the scroll aside and it landed on my bedside lantern. The light from within the lantern shined through the parchment and revealed a secret message on the scroll.  
I gasped and grabbed the scroll from atop the lantern, reading it aloud. "The Fire Sages keep the secret history in the Dragon Bone Catacombs."  
I quickly turned to leave.  
After sneaking silently through the palace, I came to a dark and ominous temple. It stood stately, bathed in soft red light. Fire Sages walked the grounds. I was hiding and waiting behind a pillar, out of sight. I watched as a Fire Sage walked through a large courtyard. In the middle of the courtyard floor, a large medallion fashioned in the shape of a flower could be seen.  
The Fire Sage stopped directly over the ornate medallion on the ground. He crouched low, and delivered a blast of fire into the center of the design. It began to open a hidden passage under the courtyard of the temple. The Sage disappeared into the floor.  
I sat behind the pillar to wait until it was safe for me to use the secret passage myself. When all was quiet, I went to the secret passage, and bended a blast of fire into the medallion just as the sage had. The passage opened, and a spiral staircase was revealed along with a very large secret chamber.  
I traveled through the chamber and down a hall lined with what appeared to be the bones of dragons, all lined up along the walls of the hall. I then came to an ornate door with what appeared to be a metal sculpture of Fire Lord Ezra on it.  
On the chest of the sculpture was a Fire Nation emblem. I placed my left hand over the emblem, and delivered a powerful fire blast. The fire filled the door, and poured out from the statue's eyes, nose and mouth. As the door opened, cobwebs pulled apart and fall to the side of the door.  
As I entered the room, I pulled my cloak from my head and raised my lantern to look around the dark chamber. The room was filled with artifacts and various vessels. A large and intricate dragon statue sat in the middle of the room. Under the dragon's head, I finally found what I was looking for.  
I picked up a large scroll and read the title aloud. "The final testament of Fire Lord Ezra."

Odette:

I reached for Koren to climb on the back of the dragon.  
"Come, Odette," he said to me and the three of us flew off over the clouds.  
"Where are we going?" I asked, curious as ever. This entire thing was very strange to me and everything seemed to be happening almost too fast to process.  
Koren smiled slightly. "To visit my past. Our shared past."  
I smiled, and we flew out over the clouds.

Ren:

I continued reading fervently, trying to suck up every detail that I could. The past Fire Lord narrated the following story.  
…"As I feel my own life dimming, I can't help but think of a time when everything was so much brighter…"  
He first spoke of a lush and green Fire Nation Courtyard. Two young firebenders were sparing. The young men exchanged fire blasts in an impressive display of firebending. The two young men were Ezra and Koren.  
"I remember my friend…" Ezra stated.

Odette:

From a distance, Koren and I watched the two men spar.  
Ezra noticed that Koren's feet were too close to a tree root. Ezra smiled, and used this to his advantage. He stepped up his attack to drive Koren back, causing Koren to trip and fall back. As Koren fell, Ezra grabbed Koren by the shirt to keep him from falling. While he held him, he raised his hand as if to fire blast, but instead he let Koren fall to the ground.  
Ezra smiled. "looked like I win again, Koren."  
Ezra extended his hand to help Koren to his feet.  
"Are you kidding?" Koren said and raised his eyebrows, taking Ezra's hand.. "The tree root did all the work." Koren got back on his feet, and patted Ezra on the shoulder to praise his clever maneuver. "Nice one, Ezra."  
The two young men walked off.  
I looked at the Avatar, surprised. "You were friends with Fire Lord Ezra?!"  
"Back then, he was just Prince Ezra, and he was my best friend."  
Koren and Ezra left the courtyard and a lovely young Fire Nation woman entered the scene. As she walked past the friends, Koren stared at her and blushed. Ezra noticed this.  
Ezra nudged him. "Say something to her."  
Koren walked after the young woman. He raised his hand and attempted to greet her. "Uh...ahhh."  
Embarrassed, and overcome by her presence, Koren sighed and puts his hands on his head and fell back onto the ground. Ezra sat down next to him and sprinkled blades of grass onto Koren's face.  
Koren and I were still hovering in the background, watching Koren's history unfold.  
Koren looked down at me knowingly. "Love is hard when you're young."  
I sighed. "You don't have to tell me."  
Koren put his hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, it gets better. Now come with me. We have a party to attend."  
The scene blurred before us and morphed into a lovely outdoor celebration in a courtyard. Cheerful golden lanterns were strung above a large crowd of Fire Nation citizens. There was large staircase with two figures standing at the top.  
"Wait, whose party is it?" I asked.  
Koren smiled. "Ezra and I shared many things, including a birthday."  
The images he was showing me now focused on Koren and Prince Ezra at the top of the stairs. As they walked down the stairs, I spotted two young women in the crowd. One of them was Koren's love interest. She watched Koren, then looked down and blushed. Her friend leaned over her shoulder and giggled.  
Koren had noticed the young woman's interest and blushed while he continued down the stairs. Distracted, Koren began to fall down the stairs. Ezra acted quickly and grabbed Koren by the hand, saving him from falling. Koren composed himself, and blushed again from embarrassment.  
Ezra laughed at his love smitten friend. The moment ended quickly, as the crowd suddenly grew quiet. A group of Fire Nation Sages had entered the courtyard. They were walking toward Prince Ezra and Koren. Ezra hurried down the stairs to meet them.  
Ezra was concerned. "Did something happen to my father?"  
"No, Prince Ezra. We are not here for you. We are here to announce the identity of the next Avatar," the sag said.  
The guests were no longer quiet as whispers traveled through the crowd. Koren and Ezra were both in shock.  
The Sages made the announcement, and they bowed to respect the new Avatar. "It is our honor to serve you, Avatar Koren."  
Koren stood still with his jaw dropped in disbelief. The crowd was on the ground, all bowing. Ezra, who was still in shock himself, looked around at the crowd. Then he quickly turned to kneel before Koren.

Ren:

I was still sitting in the chamber, reading and holding the scroll close. My lantern still cast an orange glow against my body as I leaned against the wall. As I read, Ezra's narration continued.  
"Soon the day came when my friend Koren had to leave the Fire Nation and face his destiny as the Avatar. He needed to travel the world so he could master the other elements."

Odette:

Ezra appeared in the doorway of Koren's room and leaned against the door frame. "Hey, why aren't you packed yet, all-powerful Avatar?"  
Koren didn't move, and continued to stare at the floor. Ezra looked down; he sympathized with is friend. Suddenly, Ezra's face perked up.  
"Come on, show me how it's done…" he said, smiling. Ezra leaped, attempting to demonstrate examples of all the bending disciplines. "Using all four kinds of bending."  
Ezra ended his routine with a cheerful smile.  
Koren looked at his friend, depressed. "I started packing, but then the fire sages told me I won't need any worldly possessions anymore."  
Ezra lost his smile and sat down beside his friend.  
"Oh," he said, saddened.  
The two sat next to each other on Koren's bed. There was an open, but empty trunk at Koren's feet.  
"It happened so fast. Everything's going to be different now," Koren said.  
Ezra blinked, and a small smile was seen briefly. He reached up toward his head dress. He removed it from his topknot, and held it out towards Koren. "Here. I hope you're at least allowed to have this."  
"But this is a royal artifact," Koren said, shocked as Ezra continued holding the head dress in his hand. "It's supposed to be worn by the crown prince."  
Ezra leaned in. "I want you to have it."  
Koren accepted the gift, and placed it around his own top knot. The two friends stood up and bowed towards one another.  
The scene faded and I found myself still riding on the back of Koren's dragon in the spirit world. As we soared over the clouds, I noticed we were on our way to a familiar place.  
"Hey, we're almost at the Southern Air Temple," I said excitedly.  
Koren nodded. "This was the first stop on my avatar journey."  
The scene around me changed, and the beautiful Patola mountains were shown with the Southern Air Temple in the distance. There was a line of young air bender monks, Avatar Koren at the end of the line.  
He was annoying a young monk to his right. Koren was airbending his long black hair in the monk's face.  
"It was the place where I was trained to master airbending and also where I met an old friend of yours, Monk Athos," Koren said.  
Athos then effortlessly airbended Koren's hair back, causing his hair to tangle. Koren nudged Athos forward who was very satisfied and smiled.  
I blinked, surprised. "No way."  
The scene changed again, and an aerial view of the airbenders on a grassy ledge was shown to me. An older Air Nomad lead the students in an airbending exercise. He launched off the side of the ledge. The students lined up by twos to follow their teacher. Athos and Koren soared through the air on their gliders.  
"Hey, Athos, you want to see a new glider trick?" Koren flew up and looped twice in the air.  
Athos laughed. "Check this out."  
Athos flipped his self over, and stood on top of his glider.  
"He's air-surfing. I can't believe I never thought of that," I said, staring in amazement as Koren and I sat on his dragon.  
As Athos showed off his skill, he lost his balance, and began to fall through the sky. Koren caught him on the back of his glider. Unfortunately, Koren was unable to control the glider, and the both plummeted towards the other young monks who were now back on the grassy ledge. The other students looked up at the falling airbenders. They panicked and tried to run to get out of their way.  
Koren and Athos crashed and a large cloud of dust floated up. The young monks were knocked over and scattered about. Koren's hair was in his face and Athos airbended it back while Koren lifted his head. They both smiled, and Koren patted Athos on his shoulder.  
I smiled. "That's amazing. I can't believe you were friends with Monk Athos just like I was."  
Koren nodded fondly and closed his eyes. "Some friendships are so strong, they can even transcend lifetimes."  
The dragon flew away from the happy memories with Koren and I on his back.  
Next we came to the North Pole. In the distance, I could see two figures on a plateau of ice. It was Koren standing on the table of a small glacier. He was older now, his hair was shorter - around shoulder length. He had chiseled features, and the beginnings of a beard.  
"After my years mastering airbending, I traveled to the Northern Water Tribe."  
Koren's waterbending master's hair was short with familiar beaded dreads of hair around the face. He wore a collar of bone with a blue stone, and a blue water tribe parka. The Water Bending Master commanded a large, spiraling water spout from the ocean waters behind him. It curled, turned and twisted before finally thrusting forward, knocking Koren, and a fourth of the glacier, into the water.  
"Waterbending was especially challenging for me. But in time, I mastered it as well."  
Koren emerged from the water, and bended an enormous wave of water directly at his master standing on the glacier. The blast destroyed the glacier, and carried his waterbending master all the way back to the top of the North Water Tribe Temple. His master sat up, and shook his head to get his bearings. Koren, standing on an ice float, lowered his stance, a smile of satisfaction upon his face.  
Next, Koren stood shirtless. From the waist down he wore Earth Kingdom clothing. His hair and beard were longer. He moved his arms in quick strong motions across his body to earth bend a large piece of earth he was riding up the side of a mountain.  
"I moved on to the Earth Kingdom," he said as we watched him racing up the slope, another Earth Bender against him. "My Earthbending master, Sud, was uncompromising, stubborn, and blunt."  
The two benders raced their landmasses into thick brush and trees. Then, they disappeared from view. The scene changed so we could see the top of the mountain overlooking a valley.  
"...and a lifelong friend," Koren finished as Sud raced into view, quickly bringing his landmass to a halt. He thrust his fists into the air, confidently cheering for himself. The look on his face changed quickly when he realized that Koren not only beat him to the top, he also had arrived in enough time to seat himself, and pour them both tea.  
Sud smiled at his pupil. They both raised their teacups to toast.  
"It was bitter work…" he said as an image of him on a beach appeared. He moved his arms to bend the different elements in a display of mastery. He started by Waterbending to his left, Earthbending to the front, Firebending behind, and Airbending to his right. "But the results were worth it."

Ren:

Still reading Ezra's history in the chamber, my eyes began to burn and they quivered with each word I read.  
"Twelve long years passed before I saw my friend again. When Koren returned, he was a fully realized Avatar, and I had changed as well…."

Odette:

Koren then showed me Ezra sitting in his throne room. Koren entered and he walked down a long ornate red carpet towards Ezra.  
"Ezra, or should I say, Fire Lord," he said cheerfully.  
Ezra looked at him seriously. "Customarily, my subjects bow before greeting me, but you're the exception."  
"After all these years, he was still my best friend," Koren said with a smile. The scene faded to a wedding ceremony and celebration in a Fire Nation Courtyard. Many guests were in attendance, even citizen's from other nations. To Koren's right was Ezra who was holding a scroll. "And a few months later, he was my best man."  
"Koren, it's that girl who didn't even know you were alive," I asked, excited.  
Koren lifted his brides veil.  
Abruptly the scene changed one again to an older Koren, arguing with his old friend. I was confused momentarily but I quickly caught on.  
"Don't do this, Ezra. Don't challenge me. It will only end badly. It's over," Koren said.  
Avatar Koren lowered his eyes in disappointment, and turned to walk away. As he left, Fire Lord Ezra became filled with uncontrollable rage. He leapt from his throne and bended a deadly blast of fire at his former friend. The mighty blasts from Ezra's hands streamed steadily from his clenched fists.  
As the flames lifted, and the room could be seen again, Koren was nowhere to be found. Ezra, still fuming with anger, was clearly concerned about Koren's whereabouts. His eyes shifted from side to side, trying to find Koren.  
Koren broke through the floor behind him; he had used Earth Bending to sink into the floor to safety. As he emerged, he delivered a mighty blast of air that sent Ezra flying across the room, and slammed him into the doors of the throne room. As Ezra dropped to the floor, Koren wasted no time in Earth Bending a pillar of Earth that lifted Ezra into the air and pinned him by the back of his robes to the ceiling. Ezra was helpless. Koren calmly brought his hands together in front of his face, and his eyes sparked.  
The avatar spirit now flowed through him. He brought the supports of the throne room crashing down. Ezra uncovered his face to witness the destruction as Koren airbended a cyclone of air, and raised himself up to face Ezra.  
"I'm sparing you, Ezra. I'm letting you go in the name of our past friendship, but I warn you, even a single step out of line will result in your permanent end," the avatar warned.  
Ezra stared at Koren, his face unchanged. Suddenly, his expression dropped, and he hung his head in defeat. Koren turned, and rode the cyclone quickly away from Ezra.  
We were now back on Koren's island. He was sleeping peacefully next to his wife in his home.  
"Ezra and I didn't speak or see each other for 25 years after our battle. I spent most of my spare time here at my home," he explained as we watched.  
A loud rumbling whooshing noise woke Koren. He sprung from his bed, and looked out a window. He saw several large fireballs falling from the sky, and crashing into the island. Koren and his wife fled the room. As he fled from the room, his headpiece fell to the floor, and was left behind. Koren emerged from the house to find the air saturated with smoke and ash. Coughing, Koren and his wife shielded their faces. She ran towards a corner of the house, away from Koren.  
"Let's go," he said, grabbing her.  
He airbended a tunnel into the clouds of smoke to help his wife and others escape safely. Townspeople were running through the streets to escape the waves of smoke and ash that now poured through the streets. His dragon flew up from behind the house and he narrowly escaped as an ash flow completely buried the house.  
Koren, with his face covered, led his wife and many townspeople to safety. Ash continued to fall as I saw a swell of lava ooze from the mouth of the volcano.  
Koren looked to his wife, let go of her hand, and motioned her to go on without him. With her arm still outstretched, she looked at him, and ran to safety. She continued to look back, desperately hoping Koren would grab her hand.  
Avatar Koren turned to face the advancing destruction. He airbended a hug dome of protection around himself.

Ren:

"Koren's island was 100 miles away. But I could still feel it rumbling and see the black plume of smoke. I had never seen anything like this catastrophe…" I read as the dark story continued to unfold.

Odette:

Large columns of black smoke billowed from the summit. Suddenly, lightning struck above the volcano as the earth rumbled from the disaster. A landslide was quickly approaching the town, threatening to destroy it completely. Thinking fast, Koren earthbended a gigantic wall, and rode the wall to meet the falling earth, and stop its decline. As he succeeded in stopping one disaster, another appeared. The volcano ejected a massive wave of molten lava from its mouth. The flow breeched the wall of earth. Koren ran to the bottom of the summit, and cut into the earth using his earthbending. He created a channel to divert the lava into the surrounding ocean, away from the town, and the bay of the island. The channel filled with lava, and emptied into the ocean.  
Koren and I watched the destruction.  
"This is amazing, Koren. You're battling a volcano, and you're winning," I said in awe.  
Koren sighed. "Unfortunately, my success didn't last, Odette. There was no way I could do it all."  
Koren was surrounded by lava and smoke. He covered his face as lava leaped around him, and toxic gases spouted up around him. Koren slowly turned to look up at the top of the volcano. As he focused on the mouth of the volcano, it violently expelled another fire fountain of lava.  
Koren ran toward the volcano, and leapt into the black sky. He blew a powerful blast of air from his mouth at the rapid lava flow. The blast was so powerful; it caused him to rise in the air. The lava flow cooled to rock, and Koren landed on it. Suddenly, a blast of poisonous gas spouted to his right, he turned and covered his face. He turned to the jet, airbending it away. Suddenly lava appeared on his right. Another jet of gases blasted to his left, and he quickly airbended it as well.  
"Battling the elements was hard enough. I had to do it while I could barely breathe. The poisonous, volcanic gasses were overwhelming," he said,  
Lightning crashed around the crater as his dragon flew toward him. The summit emitted another lava fountain. The dragon pulled back, narrowly escaping the blast.  
Koren covered his face with his arm. "It's all right, Saphira. Get out of here, I'm fine."  
Koren turned his body from side to side. His movements were strong. When he faced the volcano again, Koren's face was fierce and his eyes were aglow; he had entered the avatar state. With a powerful blow from his fist, Koren earthbended a tremor through the volcano, knocking out the entire backside of the crater. This lessened the lava flow that was threatening to engulf the island. As the lava flowed down, the second volcano erupted. Koren hopelessly dropped his head. Ezra, on a blue dragon, dropped down behind the defeated Avatar.  
"Need a hand, old friend?"  
Koren spun, surprised. "Ezra?!"  
"There's not a moment to waste."  
Ezra and Koren rode on the blue dragon's back to the second eruption. Koren bended the fire fountain down into the crater. Ezra balanced on the mouth of the vent. He helped cool the lava by displacing the heat and channeling it through himself, and out through his other hand into the turbulent sky. The two friends worked together, commanding and controlling the devastation.  
The towns people were in the boats off shore. Koren's wife's eyes were anxiously fixed on the volcanoes. Koren and Ezra were on the edge of the crater. Lightning blasted above Ezra. The earth beneath him became unstable. He began to fall back off the side of the volcano. Koren quickly earthbended an earth shelf to catch Ezra. Stable again, Ezra looked to Koren for a moment. Suddenly, the earth violently shook and another surge of ash and rock shot from the crater. The two turned to run.  
"Don't breathe the toxic gas," Koren warned.  
As the two ran, a jet of toxic gas shots up directly next to Ezra. Koren quickly airbended it away to protect him. Suddenly gas erupted directly into Koren's face. Koren was overcome and disorientated.  
"It's... too much," he huffed, shaking.  
He lifted his hands to look at them. They blurred out of focus. Overwhelmed by the poisons, Koren began to buckle and fell to his knees. He looked up toward Ezra, and held out his hand for help.  
"Please…" he begged.  
"Without you, all my plans are suddenly possible," Ezra said callously.  
Koren's arm was still reaching out towards Fire Lord Ezra. He listened to Ezra in disbelief as Ezra delivered his death sentence.  
"I have a vision for the future, Koren."  
Ezra's dragon appeared. As Koren kneeled, weak and vulnerable, Ezra mounted the dragon and flew away.  
Koren, on the side of the volcano, was surrounded by toxic gas, and behind him a surge of rock and ash flowed swiftly toward him. Ezra's dragon emerged from the dark plumes of the mountain. His piercing amber eyes watched as the Avatar slowly met his end. He was coughing and was unable to get to his feet.  
Koren's dragon appeared from the right, and flew above him. Koren bravely looked up towards his dragon as the debris rapidly approached. With the avalanche just moments away from swallowing Koren, Saphira flew down, and wrapped herself around Koren. The wave of ash and rubble covered the two completely.  
Suddenly…a soothing bright light flooded an arched window frame. A baby's coos could be heard. A chubby, smiling infant was surrounded by three Air Nomads. A nun held up the baby to the light while the infant's parents stood in the shadows to the right of the nun.  
"Who's... wait, that's me, isn't it?"  
My parents…  
Koren smiled sadly and looked to me. "Make sense of our past Odette, and you will bring peace and restore balance in the world."  
Avatar Koren slowly disappeared behind me.  
"Koren? Koren?"

Ren:

I was still seated on the floor, reading in Ezra's chamber in the catacombs.  
"With Koren gone, and the great comet returning, the timing was perfect to change the world. I knew the next avatar would be born an air nomad. So I wiped out the air temples. But somehow, the new Avatar eluded me. I wasted the remainder of my life searching in vain. I know he's hiding out there somewhere. The Fire Nation's greatest threat... the last airbender."  
There was nothing else to be read.  
"That can't be it, where's the rest of it?" I gaped, disappointed.  
I put the scroll down and ran through everything that had happened. As I sat there and puzzled it out, it suddenly all came together.  
Uncle.  
I stormed into the Fire Nation prison where they were holding Uncle Ira. Furious, I slammed the door to the cell behind me open and then shit as I entered. Uncle was sitting with his head down. His hair was tangled in tendrils that loosely laid about his face.  
It broke my heart to see him like this…but it was his own doing. He had chosen this fate.  
"You sent this, didn't you? I found the secret history. Which, by the way should be renamed "the history most people already know." The note said that I needed to know about my great-grandfather's death, but he was still alive in the end," I shouted, furious.  
Uncle looked up toward me for the first time in months. "No...he wasn't."  
"What are you talking about?" I snarled, irked.  
"You have more than one great-grandfather, Prince Ren. Ezra was your father's grandfather. Your mother's grandfather was Avatar Koren."  
I stumbled backwards, shocked. "Why are you telling me this?"  
"Because understanding the struggle between your two great-grandfathers, can help you better understand the battle within yourself. Evil and good are always at war inside you, Ren. It is your nature, your legacy. But there is a bright side. What happened generations ago can be resolved now…by you. Because of your legacy, you alone can cleanse the sins of our family and the Fire Nation. Born in you, along with all this strife, is the power to restore balance to the world."  
Uncle turned and removed a brick and reaches for a bundle in the wall. He slowly unwrapped the bundle while I walked toward him.  
"This is a royal artifact. It's supposed to be worn by the crown prince," he said.  
I reached out and took Koren's head dress from Uncle's hand. I held the artifact tightly, standing outside of Uncle's cell.  
Uncle stood quietly, looking at me as a soft light glowed from above his cell.

Odette:

Alana, Kole and Elise all faced me as I finished telling Koren and Ezra's story.  
Kole looked at me in disbelief. "You mean, after all Koren and Ezra went through together... even after Koren showed him mercy, Ezra betrayed him like that?"  
Elise shook her head. "It's like these people are born bad."  
"No, that's wrong. I don't think that was the point of what Koren showed me at all," I disagreed.  
Alana was confused with my statement. "Then what was the point?"  
"Koren was just as much Fire Nation as Ezra was, right? If anything, their story proves anyone's capable of great good and great evil. Everyone, even the Fire Lord and the Fire Nation have to be treated like they're worth giving a chance. And I also think it was about friendships," I said.  
"Do you really think friendships can last more than one lifetime?" Elise asked, sarcastic.  
I grabbed Elise's hand and grinned. "I don't see why not."  
Kole came over and reached out to hold Elise's hand as well.  
Alana stroked her face. "Well, scientifically speaking, there's no way to prove that.."  
Kole glared at her, annoyed, and he interrupted his sister. "Oh, Alana, just hold hands."  
Alana stopped talking, and without moving, thrust out her hand to hold Kole's. as we held hands, we looked out towards the ocean.


	7. Chapter 7: The Runaway

Odette:

We were in an isolated area somewhere in the vicinity of Fire Fountain Village. Elise and Kole faced each other, apparently about to engage in combat. The two had been bickering all week and to avoid another fight, I stood up between them, tying my headband around my eyes for a blindfold.  
"Ok, I'm ready for some training!" I announced.  
I assumed a fighting stance and stomped on the ground with one foot. In my mind, I saw concentric circles radiating out from the impact of my foot: Elise had been instructing me in her ability to "see" via earthbending. She bended several columns of rock my way and I dodged them with ease. Kole attacked with a water whip and I evaded this as well, recoiling it back onto him and simultaneously hurling a boulder at Elise. Elise caught it on the end of her fist.  
"Good job, twinkle-toes. Visualize - then attack!" Elise complimented.  
She propelled the boulder back towards me and I corkscrewed into the ground to avoid it. The boulder, obeying Newton's first law, continued on its trajectory and collided with Kole's chest, bowling him over.  
"Maybe you should take your own advice, Elise," he snapped angrily.  
"What's the matter? Can't handle some dirt, Madame Fussy Britches?" Elise shot back obnoxiously.  
Kole drenched Elise with a wave.  
"Oh, sorry, did I splash you, mud slug?"  
Furious, they careered towards each other on ramps of rock and ice, respectively, collided, and fell to the ground with shrieks of rage.  
I sighed, still blindfolded. "Are we taking a broke?"  
Alana, with an evil grin on her face, rushed towards me from behind, yelling.  
"Yaaaaaah, sneak attack!"  
Bored, I bended a column of rock in her path, then removed the blindfold.  
"Alana, sneak attacks don't work if you yell it out loud," I said.  
Kole and Elise continued wrestling around in a pool of mud.  
"Hungry for a mud pie?" Elise yelled and kicked mud in Kole's face.  
"I'll give you a mud pie," Kole yelled back and mudbended Elise to the ground. Elise sprang back up and earthbended Kole into the air. They were about to go at it again when they were interrupted by me.  
"Uh, guys, I thought we were supposed to be training me" I said.  
Kole, salvaging what dignity he could, gave up the fight. "Very well, pupil. I believe we've had enough training for today."  
He walked away.  
Elise looked after him derisively. "While Kole cleans up, let's go have some fun!"  
Alana and I both jumped up excitedly. "Yes! Yeah!"

Alana:

In a Fire Fountain Village, Odette, Elise, and I were strolling down the street. Messenger hawks were continually flying about, and I took notice of them.  
"Look at all those messenger hawks. You know, I've been thinking about getting one for myself. That way, I wouldn't have to talk to anyone... I could just send them messages!" I said excitedly, wanting one more and more as I watched the beautiful birds.  
"I gotta say, I like the idea of not talking to you," Elise said jokingly.  
"So, guys, what are we gonna get with our last silver piece?" Odette asked.  
"We can get more money. Right there," Elise said and pointed to a street below, where a con man was fleecing a crowd of Fire Nation citizens with a shell game. "This is where you seeing people are at a disadvantage. Everyone guesses wrong because the dealer moves the rock at the last minute. But I can feel it with my earthbending."  
By this time we had descended and joined the crowd around the table. The con man spotted the innocent-looking "blind" girl and decided she was an easy mark.  
"You there. Want to play a friendly game?" he asked her.  
"How could I possibly play? I'm blind," she asked innocently and I smirked.  
"You don't have to see to be lucky," the dealer said.  
She groped her way to the table and laid down the last silver piece. The dealer practiced his sleight of hand with the pea, sending it flying from one shell to another, but Elise couldn't be fooled. She guesses correctly and the dealer tossed money her way.  
"Flamey-o, Elise!" Odette cheered.  
"Wow, fancy guessing. You are amazing at this. Would you like to make the game a little more interesting?" the dealer asked.  
Elise cocked her head to the side. "More interesting? How?"  
The dealer smiled. "Well, let's say you toss in your friend's fine sword there. Then I'll put up twenty silver pieces against it, and that's more interesting."  
Elise grabbed my sword and handed it over, much to my distress.  
"I'll do it for forty silver pieces," Elise said.  
"Forty silver pieces it is." The shell shuffling began again, faster and more furious. She pointed at one of the shells and the dealer smugly lifted it.  
"Sorry, little lady, but…" to his shock, the pea was still there "...huh?"  
Elise smiled excitedly. "I won!"  
Nice…

Kole:

Odette, Alana, and Elise returned to our campsite, arms filled with provisions.  
I was startled, wondering how they had gotten so much stuff…we'd only had a few coins when they'd left.  
"Where did you guys get the money to buy all this stuff?" I asked.  
Odette smiled and tossed her hair out of her face. "Elise got us money. She scammed one of those guys in town who moves the shells around all sneaky-like."  
"She used earthbending to win the game. Classic!" my sister said, grinning.  
"Ah, so she cheated," I stated harshly.  
"Hey, I only cheated because he was cheating. I cheated a cheater. What's wrong with that?" Elise argued.  
"I'm just saying, this isn't something we should make a habit of doing," I said, not wanting to get into it with her again.  
Elise glared at me. "Why? Because its fun, and you hate fun?"  
"I don't hate fun," I snapped indignantly. I seized Fang and draped him on top of my head. "See? Fun."  
Fang slid off my head with an annoyed growl.  
"Kole, I'll personally make you an Avatar promise that we won't make a habit of doing these scams," Odette said sincerely. She lifted her headband to reveal her arrow and solemnly bowed to me.  
"Avatar promises" apparently were not worth much, because the next day they went right back to the village and Elise used her powers to rig a dice game, win a strongman competition, and extort a merchant after tricking him into thinking he had run her over with his carriage.  
While all this was going on, I was remonstrating with the cash-flush flimflammers. When they returned from another day of playing their games, I decided enough was enough.  
"Guys, I think these scams have gone far enough. If you keep doing them, something bad is gonna happen," I warned.  
Elise rolled her eyes. "Could you for once stop being such a sourpuss and just lighten up?"  
"Oh, I'm sorry. You think I should be more like you? Like some wild child?" I snapped.  
"Yeah, maybe. Maybe then, you'd see how great we have it. I mean, look at us. We're traveling around the world, making easy money, having fun, with no parents to tell us what to do," she replied carelessly.  
"Ah, I see. You're acting like this because of your parents," I stated smugly.  
Elise waved her hand dismissively. "Whatever."  
"They were controlling over you, so you ran away, and now you act like your parents don't exist. You act like you hate them, but you don't. You just feel guilty," I said.  
"I do hate them!"  
"I don't think so. I think you miss them. But you just don't want to deal with that, so instead, you act like this crazy person."  
Elise was fuming. "Look. I ran away to help Odette!"  
"You know what?" I snapped, my own temper starting to flare. "It doesn't matter. These scams put us all at risk, and we don't need that. We've already got some third-eyed freak after us."  
"Speaking of that third-eyed freak... I think I've come up with a name for him. What do you think of..."Sparky-Sparky Boom Man"!" Alana said and we were all unimpressed. "Just think about it."  
"We have enough money. You need to stop this!" I yelled.  
Elise yelled right back at me. "I'll stop when I want to stop, and not when you tell me!"  
Furious, I walked away.

Alana:

I watched at my brother stormed away and waited to speak until he was gone.  
"Speaking of money, I'm off to spend some. See you guys later," I said, taking a bag with me.  
In the Fire Fountain Village, I was there for no more than a few minutes before I fulfilled my dream and had bought myself a messenger hawk.  
"Hawky, welcome to Team Avatar. My name's Alana, and I'm your new owner. And as such, I should warn you that there's already a wolf in our group, so I don't want to see any fighting." I poked the hawk affectionately and cooed baby-talk at it. "Good wittle messenger Hawky. Who's got pwetty feathers?"  
I walked by a wanted poster of Elise, and did a double-take. The hawk screeched loudly and I ruffled it's red feathers slightly.  
"You're right, Hawky. This is bad."

Odette:

Alana returned with a red Fire Nation hawk perched on her shoulder. With a looked of worry on her face, she walked towards Elise as she sat counting money.  
"Elise, when I was in town, I found something that you're not gonna like," she said and unfurled a wanted poster.  
"Well, it sounds like a sheet of paper, but I guess you're referring to what's on the sheet of paper," the blind earth bender said.  
Alana sighed. "It's a wanted poster. Of you. They've nicknamed you 'The Runaway.'"  
Elise was enthused. "A wanted poster. That's so great. "The Runaway". I love my new nickname. Is there a picture of me? Does it look good?"  
Alana turned the paper around and nodded at it. "Well, yeah, actually, it does look pretty good. But Elise, you're missing the point. Maybe Kole was right. These scams are drawing too much attention to us."  
Elise sighed. "Don't be such a worrywart like your brother. Think of it this way. Now you have plenty of money to help with the invasion plan!"  
She dangled a sack of money before her.  
"Well, that is true. I had this idea of making armor for Emrys," she said.  
Elise smiled. "Here's a little extra so you can get yourself a nice map of the Fire Nation. You know what? Make it an atlas."  
She handed her the entire bag.  
Alana smiled greedily. "I do like expensive atlases."  
Elise patted her knee. "Of course you do. And that's why this wanted poster is going to stay our little secret."  
She snatched it from her, hid it beneath her vest and walked away as Kole walked up.  
Kole looked at her disapprovingly. "Alana, tell me you didn't buy a bird."  
"Not just a bird. A messenger bird! Now we can send messages all over the world, even to Gran-Gran," she argued back in annoyance.  
"Wow, how does it work?" I asked.  
"Hm, uh, I never actually thought about that. Hawky: Gran-Gran, South Pole." She pointed helpfully but Hawky shook his head in confusion. "I think he gets it."  
Fang appeared over my shoulder and dashed at my new rival. They wheeled furiously about Alana as she tried to calm them.  
"Hawky, make nice! Bad Hawky!"

Kole:

I was so mad at my sister and Elise I could have choked them both.  
Later in the day, Alana and Elise were returning from further hijinks in town, arms loaded with money.  
"Well, look who decided to join us. Where have you two been? Off scamming again?" I snapped.  
Elise ignored my dark tone. "Yes, we were."  
"And I suppose you don't think what you're doing is dangerous at all?"  
"No, I don't."  
"Really?"  
"Yes, really."  
"Well then, what's this?" I flourished the wanted poster before Elise.  
She glared at me, exasperated. "I don't know! I mean, seriously, what's with you people I'm blind!"  
"It's a wanted poster of you. "The Runaway". Is that what you're called now? Are you proud of this?" I snarled.  
"Where did you get that?!"  
"It doesn't matter where I got it. The fact is…"  
"You went through my stuff! You had no right," Elise screamed, outraged.  
"Your stuff was messy, and I was just straightening up and I happened to stumble across it."  
"That's a lie! You're lying, Kole," Kole she accused.  
"Fine! It's a lie. But you've been so out of control lately, I knew something was up. I knew you were hiding something, and you were," I said as Elise knocked the poster from my hand and walked away. "Don't you walk away from me while I'm talking to you!"  
"Oh, really, Mom? Or what are you going to do? Send me to my room?" Elise yelled.  
I huffed in annoyance. "I wish I could."  
"Well, you can't. Because you're not my mom, and you're not their mom," she screeched and pointed to Odette and Alana.  
"I never said I was!"  
"No, but you certainly act like it. You think it's your job to boss everyone around, but it's not. You're just a regular kid like the rest of us, so stop acting like you can tell me what to do. I can do whatever I want!"  
"I don't act that way," I yelled in a shrill and anxious voice, chagrined. "Alana, do I act motherly?"  
Alana, alarmed, decided discretion was the better part of valor.  
"Hey - I'm staying out of this one."  
"What do you think, Odette? Do I act like a mom?"  
Odette dug nervously at her eye. "Well, I…"  
"Stop rubbing your eye and speak clearly when you talk!" I yelled, raging.  
Odette straightened, chastened. "Yes, sir."  
Elise threw her arms in the air. "I can't be around you right now!"  
"Well, I can't be around you!"  
We both stormed off and Alana's stupid hawk squawked plaintively.  
Alana sighed and ruffled his feathers. "I know, Hawky. Why can't they just get along?"

Odette:

Later in the day, Alana and I were sitting together, observing Kole and Elise sitting resentfully at opposite ends of the camp.  
"Hey, Odette, you want to test out my messenger hawk with me? I've got an idea," Alana said, grinning..  
Intrigued, I nodded my approval. "Sure."  
"I'm gonna send a note to Kole and say it's from Elise, who wants to apologize. Then everyone will be friends again," she said.  
I nodded, thinking it through. "I gotta say, Alana, you continue to impress me with your ideas."  
"Eh, it's a gift," Alana said and took pen and paper and composed a missive. "Dear Kole. Sorry for everything. Your friend, Elise."  
She slid the note into Hawky's dispatch tube and the bird sailed over to Kole, who read the message and stood up, facing us.  
"I know this is from you, Alana. Elise can't write. Ugh, you're all driving me crazy!" he yelled and I winced as he walked away.  
I smacked my forehead. "I can't believe we forgot Elise can't write."  
Alana nodded, her mouth hanging open. "Yep, we're idiots."  
"I guess plan B is, we send a note to Elise pretending it's from Kole."  
Alana shook her head. "I think we're gonna run into a similar problem. Sorry, Hawky. looked like I'm gonna have to do this without your help."  
She stood up and walked over to the earth bender, resting her hand on her shoulder. "Come on, we need to talk."

Kole:

Alana and Elise took a seat on an overhanging cliff, unaware that I was bathing in the water below. Their entire conversation was audible to me.  
"So let me guess. You brought me out here to tell me your brother's not as annoying as I make him out to be," Elise said.  
"Nah, he's pretty much a pain," Alana replied and I scowled. "He's always got to be right about everything, and he gets all bossy, and involved, and in your business."  
"Yeah, I don't know how you can deal with it."  
"Actually, in a way, I rely on it."  
I started, surprised.  
Elise was apparently confused. "I don't understand."  
"When our mom died, that was the hardest time in my life. Our family was a mess, but Kole, he had so much strength. He stepped up and took on so much responsibility. He helped fill the void that was left by our mom."  
I dipped my head sadly. That time was harder on me than my family could ever imagine.  
Elise was amazed. "I guess I never thought about that."  
"I'm gonna tell you something crazy. I never told anyone this before, but honestly, I'm not sure I can remember what my mother looked like. It really seems like, my whole life, Kole's been the one looking out for me. He's always been the one that's there, and now, when I try to remember my mom, Kole's is the only face I can picture."  
I was overcome with emotion.  
Elise sighed. "The truth is, sometimes Kole does act motherly, but that's not always a bad thing. He's compassionate and kind, and he actually cares about me. You know, the real me. That's more than my own mom. Don't ever tell him I said any of this."  
I heard her punch Alana in the shoulder.  
Alana laughed. "Hey, my lips are sealed."

Odette:

As the sun set, out entire group reunited at the camp.  
"Hi, Elise. Um, I want to…" Kole started, uncomfortable.  
Elise raised her hand. "Kole, stop. You don't need to apologize. I was the one being stupid. These scams are out of control, and I'm done with them."  
Kole smiled slyly. "Actually, I wasn't going to apologize. I was gonna say... I want to pull a scam with you!"  
Alana and I gaped in astonishment.  
"What? You want to pull a scam?" Elise clarified, shocked.  
"Not just any scam...the ultimate scam!" Alana and I collapsed, stupefied. "What do you say, Elise? Just me and you... one last go. You in?"  
"You know I'm in! Now what's this idea of yours?" Elise asked.  
The two conspirators walked off together as Alana and I lied supine on the ground, foaming at the mouth practically.  
"The plan is simple. This wanted poster says you're worth a lot of money," Kole said. "Ten times more than you've made in all your scams. So I'm gonna turn you in and collect the reward. Then you metalbend yourself out of jail, and we're on our way."

Kole:

Elise fell to the ground, captured.  
She turned her head, glaring at me with hateful blind eyes. "How could you do this to me? You betrayed me."  
I glared right back at her, irritated and fed up. "You brought this on yourself. I had no choice."  
The mayor walked up tome then as Elise was dragged away.  
"You did the right thing by turning in 'The Runaway'," he said.  
"The right thing is its own reward," I replied sanctimoniously.  
The mayor nodded. "Well, I'm happy to hear you say that."  
"But... I still want the actual reward," I continued, disconcerted.  
"Of course. Right this way."

Elise:

Elise was dragged past a metal cell and flung into a wooden one. I groped around and was dismayed to find my "sight" inoperative.  
"Hey, what kind of cell is this?" I yelled, alarmed. I had never been able to not see things before.  
A Female Fire Nation Officer's voice reached me through the bars. "A wooden one."  
Oh great.

Kole:

In his office, the mayor opened a moneybox for me when the door creaked open. The mayor pointed to me and spoke to a person in the doorway.  
"That's her. That's the girl you were looking for."  
I turned around to see the hulking figure of Sparky-Sparky Boom Man looming over me.

Odette:

I paced back and forth around our campsite worriedly.  
"Do you think this scam of theirs should be taking this long?" I asked, chewing my fingernails to distract myself from the worry.  
"I was just wondering the same thing. We'd better check it out," Alana said.  
Leaving, I admonished to Hawky and Fang. "You two behave. Emrys's in charge."  
The two creatures began to squabble anyway, but a reproving roar from Emrys put a quick stop to that.

Kole:

In the jail, I joined Elise in her wooden cell.  
"Wait. It's a trap!" Elise gasped.  
I glared at her. "Really? No kidding. Is that why we're sitting in a wooden cage right now? Gee, how'd you figure out it was a trap?"  
"Not for us, Kole. We're the bait. He wants Odette," she said, her pale white eyes wide.  
Oh no!  
I slammed my fists against the wooden cell furiously. "I can't believe I was so stupid. See, this is exactly why I'm against these scams. I knew this would happen."  
And now to top everything off, I'd put Odette in danger. She would come looking for us, I knew she would.  
Elise frowned. "But...this was your idea."  
"I know. I wanted to show you that I'm not so motherly. I wanted to show you that I can have fun too."  
Elise sighed. "Kole, you are fun. If nothing else, you're at least fun to argue with."  
"I know your relationship with your parents is complicated, and I shouldn't have said what I said," I apologized, feeling bad.  
"It's ok. I was really mad when you said that because; well, because maybe it's true. I try not to think about it, but when I left, I probably really hurt them," she said and tears started dripping down her face in steady streams.  
She started to sob and I comforted her with a hug.

Odette:

Alana and I searched through the strangely deserted streets of Fire Fountain Village for our lost friends.  
Alana looked and me, frowning. "Where do you think they might be?"  
"Where do you think anyone is?" I asked.  
Just as I said this, Sparky-Sparky Boom Man appeared on a rooftop, just above us. As he drew in his breath preparatory to firebending at us, I jumped into action.  
"Alana, watch out!"  
Sparky-Sparky Boom Man let loose a blast and we barely managed to dodge it.  
"It's "Sparky-Sparky Boom Man"!"  
"You know, I'm starting to think that name doesn't quite fit," Alana said as the man leapt to the ground and fired another shot at us.

Kole:

In the jail cell, Elise and I could hear the sounds of the fight and I began to panic.  
"What are we gonna do?" I asked, freaking out.  
Odette was not going to leave until she found us and I doubted she was alone. My sister and her could very well be killed today.  
"I don't know! I wish we had some earth or water. We need bendables!" Elise cried, freaking out just as much as I was.  
"What about your meteor bracelet? You could make a saw."  
"I left it back at camp. I was worried they would take it," she said.  
I groaned and wiped sweat from my forehead…and had an idea. Looking at the moisture on my hand and then at the wooden cell, I wasted no time.  
I stood up and began running in place.  
Elise was understandably puzzled. "Um, Kole…are you ok?"  
"Just fine."  
She looked around then back at me. "Well, what are you doing?"  
"I'm making my own water!"  
I dashed the sweat now pouring from my face against the cell bars, cutting deep swipes in them.  
Elise jumped up, grinning. "Kole, you're a genius! A sweaty, stinky genius!"  
I stuck my hands beneath my armpits and flung the sweat from them towards the bars.  
Hold on, Odette.

Odette:

In the town square, Alana and I were frantically eluding Sparky-Sparky Boom Man's assaults.  
Alana was huffing, running out of breath. "This guy is too good. He shot fire from his brain!"  
I nodded. "We should split up. He can't chase us both."  
without wasting a second, we split.  
As I ran along a roof, Sparky-Sparky Boom Man spotted me and fired. The blast sent me careering into the chest of the statue of Mordred, whence he fell to the ground, prostrate. Sparky-Sparky Boom Man walked up to me and was about to deliver the coup de grace, when a bolt of ice suddenly encased his head. He stumbled away to reveal Kole and Elise behind him.  
"Odette, get up!" Kole yelled.  
Elise waved me over. "Let's get out of here."  
We fled, but not before Sparky-Sparky Boom Man shattered his ice muzzle. As he prepared to fire at us, Elise bended a rock at him. He destroyed it with a fire blast, but a piece of the rubble flew into his forehead and struck his tattoo, knocking him to the ground and apparently causing him extreme pain. He got up and tried to resume his attack, but his power had somehow been turned against him; as he tried to focus his "laser beam", the air around him ignited and exploded.  
As we ran out of the village, Alana looked behind her and grinned.  
"Hey, I got it. The perfect name for that guy! "Combustion Man"!" she declared.  
Elise patted her shoulder. "Good job, Alana. Now let's get out of here before "Combustion Man" catches us!"  
Alana cheered. "See? It fits so well."

Kole:

Emrys descended towards a new campsite. It was nighttime and Alana yawned and stretched as we landed.  
"Well, I'm exhausted. Hawky, how about you, buddy?" she said affectionately. "Yeah, you're such a lazy little bird."  
"Kole, I need your help," Elise said and I blinked, surprised that she would come to me fore anything.  
"What is it, Elise?" I asked, a little wary.  
"I need you to write some things down for me. I want to send a letter to my parents," she said.  
"I'll be happy to help," I said, smiling warmly.  
When the letter was written, Elise slipped it into Hawky's dispatch tube and the bird soared into the night air. It took only a few seconds, however, for Alana to notice that someone was missing.  
"Hey, where'd Hawky go?"


	8. Chapter 8: The Puppetmaster

Odette:

A waxing moon hovered in the night sky, almost full, shining down on a field of red flowers. A single, large mountain could be seen in the distance.  
Emrys was fast asleep inside a cave. My friends and I gathered around a campfire underneath a gnarled and twisted tree. Alana was telling us ghost stories, trying to spook us.  
"Suddenly, they heard something down the hall, in the dark. Oooh... It came into the torchlight. And they knew the blade of Wing - Fun was haunted! Aah-ah…"  
Alana dramatically pulled her sword out and wailed in an attempt to be scary. Kole, Elise, and I were unimpressed.  
"I think I liked "the man with a sword for a hand" better," I said.  
Elise snorted with laughter. "Water Tribe slumber parties must stink."  
"No, wait, I've got one, and this is a true Southern Water Tribe story," Kole said.  
Alana groaned. "Is this one of those "a friend of my cousin knew some guy that this happened to" stories?"  
"No, it happened to Mom." Everyone focused their attention on him. "One winter, when Mom was a girl, a snowstorm buried the whole village for weeks. A month later, Mom realized she hadn't seen her friend Nini since the storm. So mom and some others went to check on Nini's family. When they got there, no one was home, just a fire flickering in the fireplace. While the men went out to search, Mom stayed in the house. When she was alone, she heard a voice," Kole dropped his voice to imitate a little girl's. "'It's so cold and I can't get warm.' Mom turned and saw Nini standing by the fire. She was blue, like she was frozen. Mom ran outside for help, but... when every one came back, Nini was gone."  
I wrapped Fang's tail around me nervously. Alana was hiding behind a tree trunk and peering over.  
"Where'd she go?" she asked.  
Kole shrugged. "No one knows. Nini's house stands empty to this day. But sometimes, people see smoke coming up from the chimney, like little Nini is still trying to get warm."  
Our gang huddled around the fire, looking through the twisted tree limbs. Elise suddenly gasped and placed a hand to the ground.  
"Wait. Guys, did you hear that? I hear people under the mountain, and they're screaming," she said.  
Kole, Fang, Alana, and I all hugged each other, trembling with fear. Alana soon regained her composure and smirked.  
"Pft, nice try," Alana said.  
Elise shook her head, her face truly scared. "No, I'm serious, I hear something."  
"You're probably just jumpy from the ghost stories," Kole said, shrugging it off.  
Elise looked up, shaking. "It just stopped."  
"All right, now I'm getting scared," I said, feeling like I had eyes on the back of my head.  
"Hello, children," an old woman's voice said right behind us.  
Kole, Alana, Elise and I all screamed and ran off, terrified. We all gathered around and hugged Elise. The old woman slowly walked into the fire's light.  
"Sorry to frighten you, my name is Gretta. You children shouldn't be out in the forest by yourselves at night. I have an inn nearby, why don't you come back there for some spiced tea and warm beds?"  
"Yes, please," Alana said, still shaking.  
Gretta smiled and walked away.

Kole:

Gretta took us to a place where there were several houses situated on a steep slope. She led us past them all and made for an old inn at the top of the slope.  
Once inside, we gathered around a square table under a single lit lamp in the dining room. Gretta bustled about and got us all hot tea. I watched as she grabbed a small cup for me and filled it with hot water. "Thanks for letting us stay here tonight. You have a lovely inn," I said gratefully as I took the tea and took a sip. It was good…was that cinnamon I tasted?  
Gretta smiled at me sweetly. "Aren't you sweet? You know, you should be careful. People have been disappearing in those woods you were camping in."  
"What do you mean, disappearing?" Alana asked, her crystal blue eyes widening in fear.  
Gretta spoke ominously. "When the moon turns full, people walk in, and they don't come out."  
There was a silent pause and then she turned cheerful again.  
"Who wants more tea?" she asked and then frowned when she saw the fearful expression all of us had. "Don't worry; you'll all be completely safe here. Why don't I show you to your rooms, and you can get a good night's rest?"

Alana:

In my room, I was lying in my bed. Fang was asleep on the floor. The creaking of old trees could be heard outside.  
I rolled over, unable to fall asleep. I shut my eyes, trying to force myself to sleep, but opened them in terror when I heard a high pitched squeak from inside. I grabbed my sword and quickly sat up, drawing it. Fang whined and hid under my covers. I looked around, but nothing was there, so I sheathed my sword.  
"I know Fang, this place is creepy. I don't know if I'm gonna be able to fall asleep," I said.  
I pulled the covers up to my eyes and looked left and right nervously.  
By morning I was fast asleep, snoring and drooling. Cut to the wide shot of the room and pan right. When I woke up, I was lying over the side of my bed on the floor.  
Someone walked up to me, casting their shadow over my face and waking me.  
"Wakey-wakey," a voice cracked and I woke up and rubbed my eyes. It was Gretta as she leaned over me and smiled. "Time to go shopping."  
Kole walked up beside her, smiling happily.  
I hate them…

Kole:

Once Alana was dressed, we went down to the town and I followed Gretta around as she shopped. Alana carried grocery bags with her sword strapped around her as we strolled around in the town market. Gretta handed three coins to a merchant and her and I walked away as the old merchant smiled and waved goodbye.  
I grinned and cast a look behind me. "That Mr. Trimble seems to have a thing for you. Maybe we should go back and see if I'll give us some free komodo sausages."  
"You would have me use my feminine charms to take advantage of that poor man? I think you and I are going to get along swimmingly."  
I beamed.

Odette:

As we followed after Kole and Gretta, Elise, Alana, and I walked side my side, listening to people's conversations as we went.  
"You won't have any ash bananas till next week?" a townsman asked a merchant.  
"Well, I have to send the boy to Hing-Wa Island to get them, and it's a two-day trip," he replied.  
The townsman shivered slightly. "Oh, right, tomorrow's the full moon."  
The merchant nodded. "Exactly, I can't lose another delivery boy in the woods."  
Alana frowned, her eyes wide. "People disappearing in the woods, weird stuff during full moons... this just reeks of spirit world shenanigans."  
"I bet if we take a little walk around town, we'll find out what these people did to the environment to make the spirits mad," I suggested.  
Alana nodded. "And then you can sew up this little mystery, lickety-split, Avatar-style."  
I smiled and nodded my head proudly. "Helping people...that's what I do."  
Gretta stopped suddenly and turned to Kole.  
"Why don't you all take those things back to the inn? I just have to run a couple more errands. I'll be back in a little while," the old woman said.  
Alana watched her suspiciously. "This is a mysterious little town you have here.  
Gretta cryptically looked back and smiled. "Mysterious town for mysterious children."  
Gretta walked away and Alana looked after her, an odd, confused expression on her face.

Alana:

We walked into Gretta's inn and made for the kitchen. Inside, I placed the wooden bucket of groceries on the table, frowning as I thought of the creepy woman.  
"That Gretta seems a little strange. Like she knows something, or she's hiding something," I said.  
Kole rolled his eyes. "That's ridiculous. She's a nice woman who took us in and gave us a place to stay. She kind of reminds me of Gran-Gran."  
"But what did she mean by that comment, "mysterious children"?" I questioned.  
"Gee, I don't know. Maybe because she found four strange kids, camping in the woods at night? Isn't that a little mysterious?" he replied sarcastically.  
I ignored that. "I'm gonna take a look around."  
I walked out of the kitchen and up a nearby flight of stairs. Kole, Odette, and Elise followed after.  
"Alana! Alana, what are you doing? You can't just snoop around someone's house," Kole chastised.  
I rolled my eyes. "It'll be fine."  
I proceeded to open one of the doors upstairs and glanced inside the dark room. It was only a simple bedroom and I closed the door back.  
Odette was just as edgy as my brother was. "She could be home any minute."  
"Alana, you're gonna get us all in trouble, and this is just plain rude," Kole said nervously.  
I found a cabinet in the wall and grabbed the door handles, trying to open it, but they were stuck.  
"I'm not finished yet," I grunted. "Come on…"  
I yanked the doors open and several marionettes fell forward, being held in place by their strings. We all yelped in surprise and I jumped back and drew my sword at the puppets in fright, my back against the wall and sliding to the floor.  
Odette's eyes were wider than dinner plates and she was breathing hard. "Ok, that's pretty creepy."  
Kole took a breath and closed the doors. "So... she's got a hobby. There's nothing weird about that. Alana, you've looked enough. Gretta will be back soon."  
I made my way up into the dark attic and tried to open a nearby door, but it was locked. The other three walked up the stairs and joined me.  
"Just an ordinary, puppet-loving innkeeper, huh? Then why does she have a locked door up here?" I asked.  
Kole was angry now. "Probably to keep people like you from snooping through her stuff."  
"We'll see." I peered in through the keyhole, seeing a small chest sitting in the light shining through the attic window. "It's empty except for a little chest."  
Elise jumped excitedly. "Maybe it's treasure."  
I smiled gleefully at the thought of treasure. Odette and Kole frowned at Elise as I drew my sword and began to pick the door's lock with its tip.  
"Alana, what are you doing? You're breaking into a private room," Kole snapped.  
"I have to see what's in there," I shot back.  
There was a click and the door opened. Our group quickly walked up to the mysterious chest, all a little hesitant.  
Odette was trembling. "We shouldn't be doing this."  
I reached down and picked up the chest. I tried to open it, but the chest was locked.  
I sighed in annoyance. "Maybe there's a key here somewhere."  
Elise groaned. "Oh, hand it over."  
I handed Elise the chest and she took the armband made of space earth from her arm and bended it into the shape of a key. Elise pushed the key inside the chest's lock and began turning it.  
"Come on, come on!" I urged.  
Elise blew a strand of hair out of her face and glared at me. "This isn't as easy it looked."  
Kole looked over Elise's shoulders, blinking nervously.  
Odette was growing even more nervous. "Guys, I don't know about this."  
Kole was just plain irritated. "This is crazy, I'm leaving."  
I smirked at him. "Suit yourself. Do it, Elise."  
Kole began to walk away as a click was heard. Elise gave a thumb up to Odette and I and we both gathered around the chest and even Kole ran back to try and look inside. We all inadvertently pushed Elise to the side. Our cheeks were pressed together comically. The lid of the chest was slowly lifted until a voice was heard behind us suddenly.  
"I'll tell you what's in the box."  
Odette, Kole, and I yelled with fear and alarm as I practically leaped out of my own skin. The four of us quickly turned around and I hid the chest behind my back.  
Gretta was standing in the attic doorway as she walked forward. Kole, Odette, and I looked down with guilt as I handed the chest to Gretta.  
Gretta opened it and reached inside. I watched her closely, my eyes wide with fear and anticipation. Gretta began to lift the object from the chest and we looked up in fear as Gretta lifted the object. The tension was lifted when the object was revealed to be nothing more than a simple blue comb made from whale bone. Gretta smiled at us cheerfully.  
I gaped at it in disbelief. "An old comb?"  
"It's my greatest treasure. It's the last thing I owned from growing up in the Southern Water Tribe," she said.  
Kole and I froze as a wave of shock went through us.

Kole:

I stared at her in shock.  
"You're from the Southern Water Tribe?" I asked, astounded.  
Gretta nodded and winked at me. "Just like you."  
she stunned me further. "How did you know?"  
"I heard you talking around your campfire."  
Alana was just as stunned as I was. "But why didn't you tell us?"  
"I wanted to surprise you. I bought all this food today so I could fix you a big, Water Tribe dinner. Of course, I can't get all the ingredients I need here, but ocean kumquats are a lot like sea prunes, if you stew them long enough," the old woman said kindly and I smiled.  
Odette grimaced in utter disgust and I patted her shoulder gently. "Great."  
"I knew I felt a bond with you right away," I said happily.  
"And I knew you were keeping a secret, so I guess we're both right." I punched her in the arm. "But I'm sorry we were sneaking around."  
Gretta laughed again. "Apology accepted. Now let's get cooking."  
By nightfall dinner was served.  
As Gretta got ready the food, I watched through the window as Odette ran outside to a small barn, where Emrys and Fang were staying. She opened the door and tossed a cabbage into Emrys's mouth. Fang jumped to the ground and yapped furiously at Emrys. The dragon spit the cabbage out and Fang grabbed the cabbage and carried it off to somewhere.  
When she came back, Gretta finished placing the last bowl of soup on the table inside the inn. Everyone got seated at the dinner table, empty bowls placed in front of us as we waited hungrily. Odette leaned over to Elise while Gretta got the food.  
She spoke with a small smirk. "I'd steer clear of the "sea prunes"."  
Elise frowned. "I thought they were ocean kumquats."  
Odette waved her hand. "Close enough."  
Gretta came back, carrying a large pot with steaming liquid in it. "Who wants five-flavor soup?"  
Odette, Alana, and I raised our hands. Gretta placed her hand over the bowl of soup and bended the liquid out of it. With a flick of her fingers, Gretta bended the soup into everyone's bowls, much to our amazement.  
"You're a Waterbender! I've never met another Waterbender from our tribe," I gasped, further impressed.  
Gretta looked back at me sadly. "That's because the Fire Nation wiped them all out. I was the last one."  
Alana looked at her, fascinated. "So how did you end up out here?"  
"I was stolen from my home. It was over 60 years ago when the raids started. They came again and again, each time, rounding up more of our Waterbenders, and taking them captive. We did our best to hold them off, but our numbers dwindled as the raids continued. Finally, I too was captured. I was led away in chains. The last Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe," she said, her eyes brimming with tears as she remembered the horrible events.  
I walked over to Gretta and put my hands on her frail shoulders consolingly.  
Gretta sniffled slightly then continued with the story. "They put us in terrible prisons here in the Fire Nation. I was the only one who managed to escape."  
Alana leaned forward eagerly, always a sucker for a good war story. "How did you get away? And why did you stay in the Fire Nation?"  
Gretta looked at her then shook her head, her old eyes trailing to the floor. "I'm sorry. It's too painful to talk about anymore."  
I smiled slightly and hugged her. "We completely understand. We lost our mother in a raid."  
Gretta patted my hand. "Oh, you poor things."  
Odette and Alana lowered their heads solemnly.  
"I can't tell you what it means to meet you. It's an honor, you're a hero," I said.  
Gretta smiled slightly. "I never thought I'd meet another Southern Waterbender. I'd like to teach you what I know, so you can carry on the Southern Tradition when I'm gone."  
I beamed excitedly. "Yes, yes of course! To learn about my heritage, it would mean everything to me."  
The next day, Gretta and I walked through the village as we started my lessons.  
"Growing up at the South Pole, Waterbenders are totally at home surrounded by snow and ice and seas," she said as we walked over a rocky hillside outside the village. "But, as you probably noticed on your travels, that isn't the case wherever you go."  
"I know, when we were stranded in the desert, I felt like there was almost nothing I could do," I said.  
Gretta smiled. "That's why you have to learn to control water wherever it exists."  
I reflected back to a few days ago when Elise and I had been captured. "I've even used my own sweat for waterbending."  
"That's very resourceful, Kole. You're thinking like a true master. But did you know you can even pull water out of thin air?" She threw her hand out and created a circle over her head, collecting the moisture in the air. "You've got to keep an open mind, Kole. There's water in places you never think about."  
I watched in amazement as the water formed around her fingers and turned into icicles.  
Gretta swung her hand around behind her and threw the icicles. They lodged ourselves into the trunk of a nearby tree with ease.

Odette:

Alana, Elise, and I walked along a river in the Fire Nation countryside from the top of a mountain. We were looking for something that might have angered the spirits but I was seeing no such thing.  
"This has gotta be the nicest, natural setting in the Fire Nation. I don't see anything that would make a spirit mad around here," I said, frustrated.  
"Maybe the moon spirit just turned mean," Elise suggested.  
Alana took a big whiff of some yellow flowers before turning to Elise.  
"The moon spirit is a gentle, loving man. He rules the sky with compassion and... lunar goodness," Alana said furiously and I winced slightly.  
A traveler suddenly walked down the nearby trail and I turned to him.  
"Excuse me, sir. Can you tell us anything about the spirit that's been stealing people?" I asked politely.  
The traveling townsman smiled a warm, chipped-toothed smile. "Only one man ever saw it and lived, and that's Old Man Ding."  
"Where does Old Man Ding live?" Elise asked, taking a step forward.

Kole:

Gretta and I walked through the field of red flowers dotted with large rocks. The mountain could be seen in the distance.  
"Wow, these flowers are beautiful," I said, brushing my tips against one's velvety petals. They felt like Odette's skin did, even smelled kind of like her too.  
"They're called Fire Lilies. They only bloom a few weeks a year, but they're one of my favorite things about living here. And like all plants, and all living things, they're filled with water," Gretta said.  
"I met a Waterbender who lived in a swamp, and could control the vines by bending the water inside," I said.  
Gretta winked at me. "You can take it even further."  
Gretta waved her hands in a large circle, bending the water right out of the fire lilies surrounding her, making them dry, black and shriveled. Gretta completed the circle and chopped her hand downward at tall rock. The water hit the rock and passed through, cleanly slicing off four pieces.  
"That was incredible." I then stared down at the flowers sadly. "It's a shame about the lilies, though."  
Gretta shrugged. "They're just flowers. When you're a Waterbender in a strange land, you do what you must to survive. Tonight, I'll teach you the ultimate technique of Waterbending. It can only be done during the full moon, when your bending is at its peak."  
"But isn't that dangerous? I thought people have been disappearing around here during the full moon," I said, worried.  
"Oh, Kole. Two master Waterbenders beneath a full moon? I don't think we have anything to worry about."  
I smiled and Gretta and I began walking away towards the forest.

Odette:

Alana, Elise, and I walked through town at night. There was an old man at work on one of the small houses. The old man steadied his hammer as he held a nail against a board.  
"Old Man Ding?" I asked hesitantly as we approached.  
Old Man Ding glanced back behind him just as he brought his hammer down on his thumb, causing him an immense amount of pain and to drop his hammer.  
"Eeh, yeow! Aw, dang blame it! What? Can't you see I'm busy Got a full moon rose. And why does everyone call me that? I'm not that old," he snapped grumpily and crouched down to lift up a board, but was too weak. "Aww... well, I'm young at heart."  
I smiled slightly and reached down and helped him lift the board up to the window.  
"Not ready to get snapped up by some moon monster, yet, at least," the man continued.  
Alana took the hammer and nail and proceeded to nail the board down as she spoke. "We wanted to ask you about that."  
"Did you get a good look at the spirit that took you?" I asked.  
"Didn't see no spirit. Just felt something come over me, like I was possessed. Forced me to start walking toward the mountain," he said, his finger pointing at the mountain. "I tried to fight it, but I couldn't control my own limbs. It just about had me into a cave up there. And I looked up at the moon, for what I thought would be my last glimpse of light. But then, the sun started to rise. And I got control of myself again! I just high-tailed it away from that mountain as quick as I could!"  
Alana frowned in confusion. "Why would a spirit want to take people to a mountain?"  
"Oh, no!" Elise gasped, startling Alana and I. "I did hear people screaming under the mountain. The missing villagers must still be there."  
Without missing a beat, Alana, Elise, and I tore through the woods until she stopped and placed a hand on the ground.  
"I can hear them, they're this way," she said.  
She took off and we followed, racing towards the mountain.

Kole:

The full moon shone brightly in the sky as Gretta and I walked in the woods.  
"Can you feel the power the full moon brought?" she asked and inhaled deeply. "For generations, it has blessed Waterbenders with its glow, allowing us to do incredible things."  
I looked at her arm as she flexed her hand and as her veins began to pop out. I looked at her warily as she stared at the moon, arms outstretched, a slightly insane look on her face.  
"I've never felt more alive."

Odette:

We made our way to the foot of the mountain and came to its dark, ominous mouth.  
"This is the place," Elise said, her face grim.  
Alana was scared. "I can't see anything down there."  
Elise took Alana's hand. "That's why you have me, let's go."  
We all jumped into the darkness of the cave.  
After walking through pitch black darkness for a while, we came to a wall and metal doorway that were lit by two torches. Elise, Alana, and I ran up to it. Elise stopped at the door, stomped her foot down behind her for support, and punched the door with both fists, knocking it off its hinges. We made our way further into the cave, Alana and I lighting the way with the torches. We entered a new chamber.  
We all came to a stop and Alana and I stared with shock as the torch light revealed dozens of men and women chained to the walls of the cave.  
A Male Prisoner looked up when he saw us and tears sprang to his eyes. "We're saved."  
The three of us entered the chamber. Elise took her armband off and began unlocking one person's shackles.  
"I didn't know that spirits made prisons like this, who brought you here?" I asked, shocked and horrified.  
A female prisoner shook her head and rubbed her wrists. "It was no spirit."  
Another male prisoner shook his head in agreement. "It was a witch."  
Alana frowned. "A witch, what do you mean?"  
"She seems like a normal old woman, but she controls people like some dark puppet master," one man said.  
Alana bristled, angry. "Gretta!"  
"Yes, the innkeeper," the first man said, nodding his head.  
Alana smacked her hand with her fist. "I knew there was something creepy about her."  
Oh no…Kole was with her!  
"We have to stop Gretta!" I said.  
"I'll get these people out of here, you go," Elise said.  
That was enough for me. Alana gave one of the freed prisoners her torch before running with me out of the cave.

Kole:

A cat-owl was sitting on a tree branch, directly in front of the moon, hooting and swishing its tail before flying away.  
Gretta started her lesson with a bit of history and I listened intently as she told her story.  
"What I'm about to show you, I discovered in that wretched, Fire Nation prison. The guards were always careful to keep any water away from us. They piped in dry air, and had us suspended away from the ground. Before giving us any water, they would bind our hands and feet so we couldn't bend. Any sign of trouble was met with cruel retribution. And yet, each month, I felt the full moon enriching me with its energy. There had to be something I could do to escape. Then I realized that where there is life, there is water. The rats that scurried across the floor of my cage, were nothing more than skins filled with liquid. And I passed years developing the skills that would lead to my escape. Bloodbending. Controlling the water in another body."  
What had been admiration in my eyes before quickly turned to pure, disgust and horror.  
"Enforcing your own will over theirs. Once I had mastered the rats, I was ready for the men...And during the next full moon, I walked free for the first time in decades. My cell unlocked by the very guards assigned to keep me in. Once you perfect this technique, you can control anything... or anyone.  
"But, to reach inside someone and control them? I don't know if I want that kind of power," I said, gulping uneasily as my palms began to sweat.  
I was stuck out here in the middle of the woods with a crazy lady. Perfect.  
Gretta shrugged. "The choice is not yours. The power exists...and it's your duty to use the gifts you've been given to win this war. Kole, they tried to wipe us out, our entire culture... your mother!"  
"I know," I said, my heart hurting as she mentioned her.  
Gretta glared at me fiercely, her watery ice blue eyes beady and crazed. "Then you should understand what I'm talking about. We're the last Waterbenders of the Southern Tribe. We have to fight these people whenever we can. Wherever they are, with any means necessary!"  
I realized something and my head snapped up and I fixed her with an accusing, icy stare. "It's you. You're the one who's making people disappear during the full moons."  
Gretta grinned nastily, her long, pale white hair curling around her wizened face as a breeze picked up. "They threw me in prison to rot, along with my brothers and sisters. They deserve the same. You must carry on my work."  
"I won't! I won't use bloodbending, and I won't allow you to keep terrorizing this town," I growled defiantly.  
I pointed my finger at Gretta, but my arm suddenly twisted to one side, then the other side, and behind my back. I grabbed my arm and tried to stop it.  
"You should have learned the technique before you turned against me," Gretta said darkly as she made me stand straight up, stiff. "It's impossible to fight your way out of my grip. I control every muscle, every vein in your body."  
Gretta used bloodbending to twist my body around and throw me from side to side. She grinned a nasty, twisted grin as she caused my body to twitch and jerk erratically, painfully. I watched in terror as she slowly brought her hands down, smiling sadistically as I was forced down to my knees no matter how hard I fought.  
It felt like she was tearing my muscles apart, piece my piece. My veins felt like they were going to burst and my heart was throbbing painfully. Tears began to form in my eyes from the pain and outright fear.  
"Stop...please," I begged, grimacing as I strained against the powers.  
Gretta cackled sinisterly, the full moon glowing above her. I looked down, tears streaming down my face as I placed my hands on the ground. I had one last option, one last chance to escape.  
I clenched my fists, and the grass around us shriveled and died. I lifted my eyes at Gretta in anger. The old woman's smile quickly faded and her laughter ended.  
I stood back up and took a deep breath, lifting my hands.  
"You're not the only one who draws power from the moon. My bending is more powerful than yours," I hissed.  
Gretta sneered. "Your technique is useless on me!"  
Gretta and I both entered our battle stances. I lifted my arms up and bended the water out of the grass and into a ring around me. I hoped forward, spun once, and flung the water at Gretta. Gretta took the water with her bending and redirected the attack back at me. I skillfully took the water back, spun back around, and flung the water back again, countering the counter-attack.  
Gretta extracted the water from two trees, creating two large torrents, and threw them forward before taking my attack and flinging it back again. The three torrents all formed one massive torrent of water and flew towards me. I stepped back and pressed my hand forward, blocking the attack. The water was completely blocked, exploding into a spectacular shower of droplets. The droplets reflected in my eyes as I looked back to Gretta, the droplets reflecting her shock and fear.  
I dashed forward and circled her arms inward. The water hanging in the air was bent into two torrents, one hitting Gretta's head, the other her feet, spinning her in mid air like a yin-yang and knocking her down as she yelled. Gretta slowly rose up as Alana and Odette ran into the area.  
"We know what you've been doing, Gretta!" Alana yelled.  
Odette glared at her icily. "Give up, you're outnumbered."  
Gretta looked at me and I felt my face pale as she smirked and looked back at Odette and my sister. "No. You've outnumbered yourselves."  
Gretta raised both arms and Odette and Alana's bodies stiffened. Gretta flung them at me and I leaped between the two, dodging them, gathered more water from the grass and flung it at Gretta as I rose. Gretta extracted the water from another tree and created a massive spinning wheel of water in front of her body to forcibly block the attack. I was ready for more when Alana came at me with her sword.  
Alana was terrified. "Kole, look out! It's like my brain has a mind of its own. Stop it, arm, stop it!"  
Gretta waved her arms to the side, controlling Alana and making me back away. I extracted more water from the grass and knocked Alana away with it. Odette was then controlled at was forced to attack me.  
"This feels…weird," she said, looking at me, as scared as Alana was.  
It killed me to do it, but I had no choice. I smashed the water hard into Odette, knocking her into a tree. I threw the water at Odette and froze it, pinning her to the tree.  
"I'm sorry, Odette," I said, hating myself for doing that to her.  
Odette nodded and smiled weakly. "It's ok."  
Gretta bloodbended Alana to attack again. She swung her sword, her face full of fear. I quickly extracted the water from a sapling and flung it at Alana's sword arm. She was sent flying back and hit a tree. I froze the water and pinned her there.  
"Don't hurt your friends, Kole... and don't let them hurt each other."  
Gretta lowered her stance and pulled her arms in. Odette and Alana were both ripped off the trees, and were sent flying towards each other. Alana's sword was pointed forward intended to impale Odette right through the chest. Both of them screamed in terror.  
"No!" I screamed, my eyes wide in terror.  
I snapped.  
Alana and Odette both stopped just before the sword could pierce Odette's heart. Both stared at their hands, realizing they had control again. They look to Gretta, who stiffened and twitched, full of fear.  
My hands were stretched outward, bloodbending Gretta without even realizing what I was going. I was shocked at first, then slowly brought my hands down, forcing Gretta to her knees. Gretta struggled to get back up, but glanced back when Elise and the prisoners arrived. In a matter of seconds Gretta's hands were being bound by shackles as everyone surrounded her.  
"You're going to be locked away forever," one man said, grinning harshly.  
Two of the prisoners began to lead Gretta away.  
"My work is done," she said and turned her head to me, smiling her twisted smile. "Congratulations, Kole. You're a bloodbender."  
Horrified, I put a hand to my mouth and slowly began to cry. Gretta began to laugh with evil as the prisoners took her away and I dropped to my knees. Odette ran over to me and I wrapped my arms around her, sobbing quietly into her next as she held me back and Alana rested her hands on my shoulder to comfort me.


	9. Chapter 9: Nightmares and Daydreams

Odette:

Emrys, Alana, Kole, Elise, Fang, and I walked through a large hedge into a field of sleeping Koala-Sheep.  
Alana was looking intently at a map as she walked. "This is it, the official rendezvous point for the invasion force."  
She lowered the map and looked proudly out over the mountains and fields of Koala-Sheep.  
"How did you pick this place?" Elise asked.  
"Before we split up, my dad and I found this island on a map. It's uninhabited, and the harbor surrounded by cliffs seemed like the perfect secluded place," she said.  
Kole smiled as we quickly unpacked and settled down for bed. "Nice choice Alana. And we're here four days ahead of schedule."  
I was shocked.  
"Wait." I suddenly shot out of bed and high into the air, my face horrified as I panicked. "Four days! The invasion's in four days!"  
"Whatever." Alana, nonchalant, yawned and laid onto her mat. "That's like... four days from now. Let's just calm down, and…"  
She trailed off and started snoring as Kole shook his head at her.  
"Alana's got the right idea Odette. We're here, we're ready…" He said reassuringly and laid down on his mat. "The best thing we can do now is get plenty of rest."  
"Uh…" I looked around frantically but everyone seemed to be asleep. "I guess."  
I curled up on the grass and fell into an uneasy sleep.  
In my dreams that night, I saw a large ornate and intimidating door with a fire nation symbol on it. The door bust open, revealing a girl with long hair, a headband and a yellow/orange jump suit. She entered the room with a series of dramatic gestures. I quickly realized that it was actually me who was in this strange garb. I took an intense jump on to a rock tower and found myself standing on the tower surrounded by floating broken pillars.  
I continually made a series of comically fast and dramatic ninja-like moves during my speech. "Your days of tyranny are over Fire Lord. I'm bringing you down!"  
I glared at an elaborately dressed Fire Lord with Kabuki-like facial features. He was about to take a bite of a bundle of grapes, but stopped and looked down at who ever was disturbing him. He was actually a giant when compared to me and surrounded by a pit of fire.  
"Really," he said and bent his giant face close to mine. "How do you plan on doing that when you're not even wearing pants!"  
I looked down, horrified to discover this was true and screamed. I quickly covered myself with a fuzzy white water tribe shield pulled out of thin air, shaking with embarrassment. Suddenly, giant eyes began to appear all around me. The eye's closed and disappeared back into the walls. The giant Fire Lord laughed as I slowly backed out the door. The Fire Lord raised his arms to the ceiling, while surrounded by flames, laughing heartily.  
I woke up startled. "Uah!"  
I felt all around to make sure I was wearing pants, and then sighed with relief as I realized what had just happened. Fang approached me and I stood up, still a little shaky. "It was just a dream Fang, I still have my pants. Well, I better keep training."  
I got to it with an extremely intense look on my face as I started by kicking a bush. Fang looked on at me as I kicked, his ears going down in a gesture of displeasure and he curled up for sleep.

Ren:

I watched as a group of servants carried a robe, which was placed around and buttoned onto me.  
A servant stepped forward with a bowl. "Fresh fruit, Prince Ren?"  
I gestured him away tiredly.  
"May I wash your feet, sir?" another asked eagerly and I again gestured a decline.  
"Head massage?"  
I looked away…what the heck was a head massage?  
I sighed and looked at myself glumly in the mirror. After my Uncle had finally spoken to me, I had spent a lot of time thinking. This was not what I wanted out of my life. I had everything at my fingertips…but there was something else, something missing. I knew what it was, and it was something I could never have mostly because I had probably killed her off by this point.  
A servant came forward with some neatly bundled and steaming towels. "Hot towel?"  
I looked at this option a little longer. Knowing they wouldn't leave me alone until I took something I sighed and then picked up a towel, rubbed my face and placed it back on the plate of towels. The servant bowed and smiled.  
I knew what I needed. Thankfully Naveen didn't live too far away from the palace and I needed a distraction.  
After I hurriedly made my way through the elaborate palace, I finally made it to the outside gates. A large elaborate gate opened as I walked through, feeling like I was suffocating.  
I was greeting by a large crowd of admirers and giggling females. I looked at them, pleased. This was probably the only good thing that came out of coming home…I was loved again by my people, something I had strived for.  
A large, awkward looking girl caught my eyes as I passed by. She got overly excited by my entrance and had to be restrained by the guards. I almost stopped them but then I remembered what my father would think and I held myself back. I was approached from behind by some servants carrying a beautiful and elaborate Palanquin.  
"Prince Ren, is something wrong? You didn't take the palanquin," a servant asked.  
I shrugged. "I'm just going to Naveen's house, it's not far."  
the servant smiled at me gently. "It's not a Prince's place to walk anywhere, sir."  
Pensive, I looked across the courtyard and then back at the Palanquin. Smirking at the utter ridiculousness of the situation, I approached the Palanquin. The Palanquin carried a comically short distance to Naveen's large residence. Sitting inside, I pulled back the curtain and smiled at Naveen, who waved from a large ornate doorway.

Kole:

I woke up to the sound of someone punching something.  
Blinking my bleary eyes. I turned my head slightly to see Odette punching the tree. She was looking extremely intense and concentrated on this task. The others slowly woke up from the sound of the punching.  
I watched her for a moment before drowsy turning, toward Alana. Alana shrugged and I sighed and got up. I approached a very fierce looking Odette from behind, rubbing my eyes.  
"Hey, how long have you been up?" I asked.  
"A couple hours." Odette circled the tree, doing some fancy footwork and varying the type of punches, very out of breath. "I got a lot more skills to refine if I'm going to fight Mordred."  
"You know there is such a thing as over-training."  
Odette gave a final extremely hard punch, which reverberated through her body in a comedic fashion. She fell backward, stuck in her punching position. After a pause, the all the leaves fell from the tree at once.  
Mouth open, I looked on in disbelieve. Alana's and Elise's head popped out from behind me as we stared at Odette. I noticed that her eyes were wide, with gray bags under them. She held up her hands in a defensive pose and leaves flew from her body.  
"You don't get it, do you?" Odette circled me and I looked on, half frightened half amused, as Odette did a variety of air punches and defensive maneuvers. "My form is bad. I'm sloppy. And I still don't know any firebending, not even the basics."  
Odette's eye twitched.  
I moved Odette's hand away from my face with a worried smile. Alana relaxed on the grass looking at her map.  
"That's okay Odette. The eclipse will block all firebending anyway, you don't need to know any." She looked toward Odette. "Plus it's a stupid element."  
"Okay," the airbender replied and raised her arms and then began a series of comic and sloppy attempts at chops, punches and kicks. "Well, I still have to work on everything else. I'd better spend the whole day training."  
Odette bowed quickly toward everyone and then created an air ball and rode away on it. Alana looked worried and then hid her face behind the map. Elise sat bored in the background, totally unaffected by everything that had gone on that morning.

Odette:

That night, I slunk back to camp in a zombie like fashion. I turned, gave a long yawn and fell back onto the ground.  
"Good night Kole. Good night Alana. Good night Elise. Good night Emrys. Good night Fang. Good night Emrys and Fang," I aid.  
Elise yelled, very angry, her face red. "Go to sleep already!"  
I cringed, and then laid back and relaxed. My eyes slowly closed and I soon fell into darkness.  
In my dreams, I busted through the same large Fire Nation door from my previous dream. I was again dressed in odd clothing. This time I had chains, a high collared yellow vest, a headband, boots and spiky hair. I snapped, and dramatic fog entered through the doors. I ran through the room and jumped to the rock tower opposite the fire lord.  
I pointed coolly. "Your days of tyranny are over Fire Lord. I'm bringing you down... and this time I brought pants."  
I gestured to the chains that were meant to lock on the pants around me.  
"So it seems," the Fire Lord said and stood up and a giant abacus fell from the ceiling. "But are you prepared for your mathematics test?"  
"Math test?! Oh no!" I yelped, panicked. "I forgot all about the math test!"  
I fell through the air yelling, and was crushed between the giant abacus beads painfully.  
I woke up startled, sweat dripping from my brow as I came back to my senses.  
"I've got to be ready!" I gasped.  
I got up and walked away from my bed. I circled some sleeping Koala-Sheep, practicing various defensive moves and Kole approached sleepily.  
"Odette, it's the middle of the night. You need to go back to sleep," he said.  
I looked about, wild and still concentrated on the Koala-Sheep. "But I forgot my pants and my math test."  
Kole sighed, and then breathed in deeply. He moved forward and grabbed my shoulders. My very bloodshot eyes turned toward him.  
"Odette, sleep. Please...for me," he asked.  
I looked at him, confused for a moment, and rubbed my eyes. Kole led me back toward their camp as a Koala-Sheep bleated after us.

Ren:

Naveen and I were lying down together on an ornate couch inside her home.  
"Tell me, if you can have anything you wanted right now, what would it be?" I asked, just for conversations sake.  
Naveen considered. "Hmm. A big fancy fruit tart, with rose petals on top."  
"You know, being a prince and all, I might just be able to make that happen," I said, snuggling closer to her.  
Naveen giggled. "That would be impressive."  
Two fire nation servants stood in a curtained doorway, waiting for orders. Naveen and I sat up so I could look at them. The guards turned towards us and bowed  
"Do you think you can find a fresh fruit tart for the lady, with rose petals on top," I asked, nicer than I usually did. Ugh, I had spent too much time with Uncle, I had never been so polite before.  
"Excellent choice, sir," a royal servant said as the guards bowed and left.  
"I guess there are some perks that come with being royalty," Naveen said as we lied back down. "Though, there is annoying stuff too, like that all-day war meeting coming up."  
I sat up sharply, completely surprised, and turned toward Naveen, who was also surprised by my reaction.  
"War meeting? What are you talking about?" I asked, my voice sharp and biting.  
"Athera mentioned something," she said and I turned away and looked down, disgruntled. "I assumed you were going too."  
Disappointed, I closed my eyes and turned away. "I guess I wasn't invited."

Odette:

As I slept peacefully on the grass, Fire Lord Mordred's voice startled me.  
"Wake up Odette."  
My eyes began to open and I looked up to see an out of focus, swaying image of the Fire Lord standing over me.  
"Wake up sleepy-head. Rise and shine. You over-slept." The Fire Lord bended in close, and then even closer. "You missed the invasion."  
I laughed and then I realized I was riding on a flying hippo pig. The creature breathed fire and flew skywards as the Fire Lord laughs menacingly.  
I shot up in a panic, coming back to reality. I turned to Alana who was still sound asleep and shook her vigorously.  
"Alana get up! I need to know what day it is!" I pulled on Alana's eyelids and lips in a comedic fashion.  
"What?!" she screeched and jumped up. "Who's talking?!"  
Alana thrust forward with her sword, but hit a rock head-on before she could complete her swing. She fell back onto her sleeping mat, her body stiff, frozen in the swinging position.  
Elise sat up, Kole behind her.  
"Relax, it's still two days before the invasion," she said, irritated.  
I hopped around the sleepy Alana, tugging on various limbs. "Alana, you've got to get up and drill your rock climbing exercises."  
Alana glared at me. "What?"  
Unfocused and tired, I made overly large comedic gestures during my speech and often looked confused. "In one of my dreams, you were running from fire nation soldiers, trying to climb this cliff, but you were too slow and they got you."  
Alana sprung up to stand before me.  
"But that was just a dream," she said, disgruntled as she pointed at me. "I'm a great climber."  
I glared at her and she sighed.  
A few minutes later, Alana and I were standing at the bottom of a cliff.  
I pointed upward. "Then climb that cliff. Climb it fast!"  
The cliff was quite large and steep, perfect for what I needed her to do. Alana looked up at the cliff summit and then looked back at me and then pointed to herself. I nodded and Alana slinked off toward the cliff and began to climb.  
"Stupid Avatar. Stupid cliff. Stupid dream! I can climb fast!" she snarled, annoyed.  
I looked on, pleased and relieved at Alana's climbing. Suddenly I turned around to Kole and Elise. Elise had just put her lips to a satchel of water.  
"Don't drink that!" I yelled, causing Alana to startle and slip down the cliff face.  
Elise and Kole sat and Elise threw away the satchel and spat the water all over Kole, who was disgusted.  
"Why, is it poisoned?" the earth bender asked, perturbed as an annoyed Kole waterbended the water off his self.  
I approached them, my eyes crossed worriedly.  
"In my dream, we were right in the middle of the invasion, and you had to stop to use the bathroom. We died because of your tiny bladder." I mimicked holding my bladder before I turned to Kole. "And you need to start wearing your hair up." I gestured to my hair and then started pulling and stretching my forehead. "In my dream, your hair got caught in a train, and…"  
Kole stood up and gently held my cheek. "Odette, I know you're just trying to help. But you really need to get a grip. You're unraveling."  
I looked around unsettled. I was extremely tired and I knew I must have dark circles under my eyes. I let out a sigh.  
"You're right. I'm losing my mind," I said.  
I looked up at Alana, who was nearly to the top of the cliff. She suddenly slid down.  
"Ahhh!"  
My eyes started twitching as returned to camp as I panicked, dreading the thought of sleep. As I spoke, I started twittering my fingers in a nervous fashion.  
"It's like every time I think about how stressed I am, I just end up more stressed." I paced back and forth while my friends sat before me. They were absorbed in their own tasks and seemed to be ignoring my ravings. "I'm like a big, growing snowball of nerves."  
Alana turned toward me. "Of course you are. That's 'cause you've got to fight the Fire Lord, the baddest man on the planet. And you better win, or we're all done for."  
An angry Kole stood up and turned to Alana sharply as I stared at her, horrified.  
"Alana, you're not helping!" he snapped.  
Alana stood up too. "What? It's true. That's the deal, she knows it."  
Kole pushed Alana to a sitting position angrily. He then looked on at me, worried. I was shaking and chattering with fear as Kole approached me.  
"You know what? I've got just the thing," he said and placed his arms on my shoulders, smiling. "Get ready to be "de-stress-i-fied"."  
Excitedly, he took me to the outside of a steaming crater. I looked at him curiously and he laughed before explaining.  
"These yoga stretches can really work wonders if you do them in extreme heat. Reach up," he said and we reached upward. "Reach for the sun. Feel your chi paths clearing."  
We bent over and touched our heads to the ground and I looked around, feeling weird.  
"Now close your eyes. How are you feeling?" he asked me.  
"I feel...really warm," I said.  
Kole nodded. "Good, good. Go on."  
"Like there's the warm feeling all around me. This heat... like I'm in the Fire Lord's palace, and he's shooting a bunch of fire balls at me. And the whole world is being engulfed in flames."  
Flames shot across the scene and spiraled inward. There was a flash and I rolled out of the yoga position and on to my back. Kole looked up at the tired and out of breath me.  
He frowned. "Maybe your stress is the kind you need to talk out."  
He then took me to Alana to tool me to a remote location. I looked up at clear blue skies and the green fields of the cliff face, laying my head on a Koala-Sheep. Alana sat beside me dawning the 'Wang Fire' beard. My elbows were propped up on a Koala-Sheep as I looked at her pensively.  
Alana spoke in a mocking, old man sounding, psychiatric tone. "Why don't you get right down to business and tell me what's been bothering you."  
"You know what's bothering me. I have to fight the Fire Lord in a few days," I grumbled, disgruntled.  
"Mhm," she said and nodded, gesturing toward me. "Tell me more about this, 'Fire Lord.' Why are you so afraid of him?"  
"You said it yourself. He's the baddest man on the planet. I'm supposed to defeat him and save the world," I sighed.  
"Hmm." Alana closed her eyes and nodded deeply. "Life does feel that way some times, doesn't it? Like we're all trying to save the world from evil."  
I sat up, now getting frustrated.  
"Okay, but what can I do to feel better?" I snapped.  
"Want to try screaming into this pillow?" Alana asked, presenting a fluffy Koala-Sheep. I screamed into it and the Koala-Sheep bleated comically. Alana scratched her head and then gave me the thumbs up sign and nodded.  
I shook my head, indicating the negative.

Ren:

My sister's long black hair spilled out in a pool of water. A female servant ran an ornate gold comb though the hair, brushing it into smooth strands.  
"Hello RenRen. If you've come for a royal hair combing, I'm afraid you'll have to wait," she said as I approached.  
I glared at her, irritated. "So I guess there's a big war meeting coming up, huh. And apparently I'm not welcome there."  
Athera frowned. "What do you mean? Of course you're welcome there."  
"Oh yeah? I guess that's why no one bothered to tell me about it," I said, perturbed.  
She rolled her eyes as the maids continued working over her hair. "Oh I, don't be so dramatic. I'm certain Dad wants you there. You probably weren't invited, because it's so obvious that you're supposed to be there."  
"Well, were you invited?" I questioned.  
"Of course. I'm the Princess," she said smugly.  
I was getting annoyed with her. "And I'm the Prince!"  
"Exactly, so stop acting like a paranoid child," she gestured as u glared at her. "Just go to the meeting."  
"Forget it, I'm not going," I snapped and stormed out of the room.

Odette:

I laid on a bed of pillar shaped rocks with my eyes closed, Elise standing next to me.  
"Alright, what you need is a good old fashioned back poundin' to relieve your stress," she said.  
"Pound away," I groaned, not looking forward to this.  
Elise began to stomp her feet causing the pillars to pummel me. It felt like she was snapping my spine in half and then pulverizing it into tiny bits.  
"Ahh! Ow! Uh! Elise!" I cried, in serious pain. "I ... think ... this ... is ... bruising ... Me!"  
Elise stopped and I fell off the bed of rock pillars painfully.  
"Sorry, I forgot you have baby skin," she said, looking pensive. "Well, there's one other thing we can try…"  
Elise stomped and a porcupine flew into her hand from a nearby bush. It uncurled and bore its needles. Elise gave a large grin. "Acupuncture!"  
I looked at the porcupine, screamed and ran away. "Ahhhh!"

Ren:

I looked miserably out an open window. Naveen approached me from behind.  
"Ren, it's just a dumb meeting. Who cares?" she said with a sigh.  
Why would you care…your father liked you. He brought you to places, he made u part of the family. You were just too dumb to realize that.  
"I don't," I replied bleakly.  
Naveen continued to talk while I still looked out into the distance.  
"Well good. You shouldn't. Why would you even want to go?" She put her arm around me lovingly. "Just think about how things went to the last war meeting you went to."  
I sighed, my scar searing at the memory. "I know."  
I couldn't believe she would bring that up.  
Naveen, circling me, attempted to distract me. "You know what will make you feel better? Ordering some servants around! I might be hungry for a whole tray of fruit tarts! And maybe a little palanquin ride around town... Double time!"  
I looked away from her, tired of bowing down to her every wish. Naveen backed away from me, looking worried.

Odette:

At the camp, I was sitting in a curled up position, looking sickly.  
"Thanks for everything guys," I said, still feeling like my spine was smashed to smithereens.  
Kole and the others looked toward me with smiles. "So do you feel less stressed? Ready for a good night sleep?"  
I looked around, confused. "Uhh...I kinda think I sorta might ... slightly feel a little better ... Maybe."  
"Then our work here is done," Alana said and she yawned, stretched, and fell back onto her sleeping mat. The others did the same. I was the only one left awake and alone. I laid back and closed my eyes and the world faded to black.  
I dreamed of a red hued world. I was flying on Emrys through a huge storm. Some giant arms swung at me but I dodged them. It was revealed to be a giant Fang that was attacking us. Fang grabbed Emrys and I.  
Before anything could happen, I was breaking through cement in front of the Fire Nation Castle. I was transported to the front steps, through the door and down some hallways in a choppy dream-like horror sequence. A creepy image of Elise flashed as she floated close to me and her hair blew out of her face to reveal that she had no eyes! Elise fell through the floor and I looked around, scared. Alana was running though a tunnel. Some gooey tentacles reached for her. She struggled but they swallow her up anyways. Next I saw a scared and terrified Kole. Fire flashed in his eyes as it surrounded him. I attempted to save him but was bound at my feet by ice. The ice crawled up my whole body leaving me frozen.  
I then found myself frozen on an ice cliff. A large fire in the shape of the fire lord loomed over me, cackling madly. It bit at me causing me to melt and I fell into a deep abyss and then into a pool of water. I swam upward only to discover I was trapped under ice.  
I pounded at the ice as Ren stood over me motionless. Ezra's comet flew by Ren's head in the background. I held my breath under the ice and watched as the comet speeding downward. Fang held my finger to my lips and whispers 'Shhh'. I then floated and overlooked a beautiful valley. Suddenly, the comet hit the valley, turning everything to black and gray. The scene faded to white and then came back and the Valley was now nothing but fire and lava.  
I woke up and screaming.  
And I continued to scream, my heart hammering in my chest.  
My screaming caused everyone else to wake up, startled. Emrys jumped with fright, causing Fang to fall off her back. Kole, Elise and Alana rushed over.  
Kole fussed over me worriedly. "What happened Odette?"  
I turned away from my friends and slumped over, bowing my head to the ground. "It's the nightmares. They just get worse and worse."  
"looked like it's time for…" Alana spun around and now donned the 'Wang Fire' beard. "…another therapy session."  
I looked up at her, disgusted, and then turned around and spoke angrily. I shook my head and took a few deep breaths before nodding and looking up in determination. "No, that won't help. Nothing helps. There's only one thing I can do. I'm going to stay awake straight through to the invasion."  
Kole looked at me with a shocked face and Alana's beard fell off. Elise seemed to find this amusing.  
After that they left me alone for the rest of the day, thinking that I had snapped.  
Later on in the day, Kole stretched on a scenic cliff above the ocean. I stumbled past in a zombie like trance and nearly stumbled over.  
"Invasion. All aboard for the invasion," I groaned.  
"You don't look so good," Kole said worriedly and approached me. "You sure you can't just lie down for a little nap?"  
I turned towards Kole. "I told you, I can't go back to sleep."  
Kole sighed as we looked out over the sunset stained ocean. "Odette, staying up can't be good for you."  
"Actually staying up all night has given me some time to think." I walked toward the ocean, and Kole followed me.  
"I've realized some big things Odette," he said.  
When I turned, it wasn't Kole I was talking to, it was Ren.  
"What big things?" I asked, my mouth drying. He looked out into the sunset with an, oh so cute smirk on his perfect lips.  
"I see everything so clearly now... what really matters. Why I hurt you. Why I'm a war with myself because of it. I'm doing it to save the world," he turned towards me. "But more than that. I'm doing it for the people I love."  
He stepped right up to me, brushing my hair out of my face. "I'm doing it for you Odette."  
"Ren, what are you saying?" I asked, my heart skipping a beat and then picking up double time as his golden brown eyes searched mine.  
He hesitated before he smiled down at me softly "I'm saying...I love you."  
He grabbed my face and kissed me. I was shocked, then smiled and kissed him back, throwing my arms around him. After a moment, we pulled apart.  
I smiled up at him, a little breathless. "What are we doing?"  
"What our hearts have been telling us to do for a long, long time. Baby," He swung me on to my back and went in for another kiss. "You're my forever girl."  
"Odette?"  
"Huh?" I asked, Kole's voice snapping me out of my hazy, happy state.  
I realized I was holding and kissing air and Kole was standing behind me looking at me strangely.  
"I was just saying you should take a nap," he said.  
"Oh," I straightened up and faced Kole. "I guess I kinda drifted off into a day-dream."  
Kole smirked and shook his head at me in amusement. "What was your dream about?"  
I looked away, embarrassed. "Uhh, living under water?"  
Kole looked skeptical, then smiled. "Sounds neat."  
I breathed a sigh of relief and gave and easy smile. "Heh. Phew."

Ren:

I was laying on the couch in Naveen's house, still irritated about the meeting that I did not get invited to. Naveen sat next to me, pouring tea.  
A messenger came and approached me, bowing. "Prince Ren, everyone's waiting for you."  
Naveen and I both started and approached him. "What?"  
"The high admirals, high generals, the war ministers, and the princess have all arrived," the messenger continued. "You're the only person missing."  
Naveen turned to me, smiling.  
"So, my dad wants me at the meeting?" I asked shocked.  
"The Fire Lord said he would not start until you arrived, sir," he said and bowed his head again.  
I smiled, pleased, and looked towards Naveen who was still smiling.

Odette:

I hid in the bushes for a moment, not making a sound. When I was ready, I jumped out, did a somersault and hid against a rock. I popped out from behind the rock.  
"Put 'em up, Fire Lord," I yelled.  
I was talking to my old noodle Mordred picture and a red target fastened to a tree. I shot a kick of air at it and missed, knocking Alana to the ground instead.  
"Hey, I'm trying to build Emrys some armor here so she doesn't have to go into the invasion naked. She's your dragon …" Alana said.  
I ignored her as my arm reached out in front of me at some imaginary enemy.  
"Mordred's defense is impeccable. I'll have to try a different approach." I jumped up into the air with a yell and began to shoot balls of air down at the noodle Mordred. All 4 shots missed. "You think you're untouchable, don't you Mr. Fire Lord."  
I approached the noodle drawing but a strange voice spoke from behind me.  
"Boy, you are really starting to lose it kid," it said.  
I turned around slowly to see Fang sitting there on a rock.  
I frowned, shaking my head. "Fang, did you hear something."  
I turns back around, but the voice came again.  
"No, but I said something," Fang said.  
"Uhh." I bent in toward Fang looking very confused.  
"You my friend are just a few plumbs short of a fruit pie," Fang said.  
I looking at the wolf in disbelief. I backed away and shook my head vigorously. I covered my eyes and then peeked through them. Fang was speaking in his normal animal language again.  
"That's more like it," I breathed in relief and petted Fang. "I'm so tired, that for a second there I imagined you were talking to me."  
Fang cocked his head to one side as if he was now confused.  
"Oh, Fang... let me explain."  
I attempted to speak Fang's animal language. Elise, Kole and Alana stood behind me, looking very confused and worried. Fang and I seemed to be carrying on our own private conversation. I even laughed a few times.  
"Odette?"  
Fang and I looked up in surprise.  
Kole approached me warily. "We're all starting to get a little worried about you."  
"You've been awake too long," Alana said.  
Elise nodded. "And you're acting downright weird."  
I turned to Emrys, who was standing on her hind legs like a human and pointing her finger as if to give a lecture. "You've got to take care of yourself. You can't go on like this."  
"Uhh." I bowed my head, frustrated, and then lifted my finger to make a point. I turned, talking to everyone. Emrys was still standing there like a human.  
"I appreciate what you guys are saying. But the stress and the nightmares, they were too much. Staying awake is the best way for me to deal with it," I said.  
Fang stood up and pointed his finger at Emrys. "Yeah, leave the kid alone."  
Emrys pointed back down at Fang, looking angry. "Hey, who asked you?"  
Fang and I started snarling at one another.  
"Guys...come on," I hissed.  
Emrys looked at me, angry. "No! I'm sick of this guy always mouthing off, and telling me what to do."  
"Oh, you don't like it? Well let's go right now," Fang said and raised his fist.  
Oh my I was indeed loosing it.  
I ran up to Alana and grabbed on to my shirt collar.  
"Alana, what should we do?" I asked, begged.  
"About what?" Alana asked.  
"About that!" I turned toward Emrys and Fang.  
Fang was dressed in a Samurai garb and he scratched his cheek. Emrys was also in full Samurai outfit. She looked intense and held three swords. Emrys drew her swords.  
Fang looked intense as well as he drew his swords. Emrys rushed with swords out toward Fang. Fang screeched and rushed, with his sword out toward, Emrys. They met in the middle, there swords pressed together in a battle of strength. I turned my head to a crowd of cheering Koala-Sheep.  
"Emrys! Emrys! Emrys!" the cheered on one side.  
On the opposite side they cheered, "Fang! Fang! Fang!"  
Fang peered behind me at Emrys, both were ready for the next attack, swords drawn. Emrys drew her many swords and suddenly turned into a giant tornado! She spun towards Fang who was able to defend her attacks. I walked up to the scene, looking confused and worried.  
"Come on guys," I groaned as Fang and Emrys fought with a ring of Koala-Sheep cheering around them. I stood outside the ring trying to get everyone's attention. "We're all on the same side!"  
A multi-armed Guru Pathik floated into the scene on a cloud. He was playing a sitar-like instrument and singing merrily, while Emrys and Fang continued their sword fight in the background. I stood before it all in disbelief.  
"Chakras, chakras, everybody loves chakras!" The Guru said. A golden light surrounded his head. He bended in towards me and licked my lips. "Chakras, chakras... chakra sandwich tastes good, yum!"  
Emrys and Fang were still in some very intense fighting.  
The Koala-Sheep cheered them on. "Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay! Yay!"  
Suddenly some snake-like lines of rocks moved on their own towards the field. I looked down at the rock-snakes confused. One of them circled around me and then drifted away.  
"Huh? Huh!"  
"Yay! Yay! Yay!" the sheep cheered.  
I saw the tree I used earlier for target practice. It still had my noodle Mordred on the face. It also wore a red target apron. It had taken on human like limbs and shape and began to dance around and throw some punches. Emrys and Fang still fought in the background. The rock snakes had risen up into slithering pillars. I was surrounded by a ring of rocks and a ring of cheering Koala-Sheep.  
Panicked, I started yelling. "I just need a jump in a cold waterfall."  
I screamed and ran away into the forest.

Ren:

AT the Fire Nation Palace, I exited the war meeting, hardly believing that it had not ended with me being banished again. A few men and women were chatting outside, Athera among them. Naveen was leaning on a pillar, waiting for me. As I walked down the hall, I pretended to not see her but she followed me anyways.  
"So, how did it go?" she asked, grabbing my hand.  
"When I got to the meeting, everyone welcomed me. My father had saved me a seat. He wanted me next to him. I was literally at his right hand," I said in disbelief.  
"Ren, that's wonderful," she beamed and grabbed onto me. "You must be happy?"  
Naveen and I paused at the end of the hallway. I looked up at a large ornate picture of Mordred, who was made to look incredibly powerful. Naveen saw my pained look and rubbed my arm, concerned.  
"During the meeting, I was the perfect prince. The son my father wanted. But I wasn't me," I said. I bowed my head sadly as we stood in the wide empty space of the hallway.

Odette:

That night, I walked through the rendezvous point. I was suddenly engulfed in a cloud of mist. In the middle of the mist was a large fluffy white pad. I approached it. I comically poked around all sides of the pad, feeling and inspecting it's fluffiness. I pressed my cheek to the fluffy pad. I looked at it very skeptically.  
"Oh look, another hallucination. An imaginary bed, made out of clouds," I said.  
I blinked and saw Elise, Kole and Alana standing there, observing me.  
Elise laughed. "Hey! It's real! We spent hours working on it."  
"We made it for you," Alana said and I looked further to the right to see a herd of recently shaved and shivering Koala-Sheep. "A good night sleep will probably take the crazy away... we hope."  
I crouched defensively on the fluffy white bed of Koala-Sheep wool. I hopped off and approached my friends.  
"Look, you guys keep telling me I need to sleep, but I can't, the invasion's tomorrow," I said.  
Kole looked at me imploringly. "Odette…"  
"No Kole, there's still so much I haven't learned. I don't need sleep. What I need is practice. Quick, hit me," I said, determined, and raised my fists in a feeble attempt.  
Kole sighed. "I'm not going to hit you."  
Elise looked eager. "You want me to do it?"  
"Listen to me," Kole said forcefully and grabbed my shoulder. "You've been training for this since the day we've met. I've seen your progress. You're smart, brave, and strong enough."  
I turned to Kole. "You really think so?"  
Alana nodded and hugged me tightly. "We all do. You can do this. You're ready."  
"You're the man," Elise said and pointed at me. She paused and then winked. "Twinkle-toes."  
"Thanks guys," I said, smiling, relieved I had such wonderful people in my life. And I had to do whatever it took to protect them. I yawned and Kole helped me onto the fluffy Koala-Sheep wool bed.  
"You know what? I think I am ready," I said, my mind at ease.  
I broke through the same dream door to the Fire Lord's palace. I was in yet another set of unusual yellow/orange clothing. This time I had long hair and a samurai sword. I flew into the room sword first. A giant Fire Lord stood in the fire pit as before, although this Fire Lords features were much more similar to Mordred's.  
I stood on the ledge below the Fire Lord. "Your days of tyranny are over, Fire Lord."  
"Really? You're going to take me out? You're not even wearing pants," he said and smiled menacingly.  
I smiled slyly and raised my sword. "No Fire Lord Mordred, you're not wearing pants."  
Mordred looked down and screamed in surprise.  
"No!" He covered his self with a fluffy fire nation shield. "My royal parts are showing!"  
I smiled in my bed of Koala-Sheep wool surrounded by mist and fell into a deeper, dreamless sleep.


	10. Chapter 10: The Invasion

Odette:

This was it…today was the day and at the crack of dawn we were all up and about.  
Alana had 3 maps overlapping one another, 2 of them were maps of the Fire Nation while the other was a map of the World. Alana was in her Water Tribe gear studying the maps with intense concentration and wiping perspiration off her forehead. Kole was donned in Water Tribe gear as well, similar to Alana's just heavier. He placed a cup of steaming hot tea into Alana's hands. Emrys was sleeping in while Elise was resting on a nearby rock in her normal earth bending outfit with Fang rested at her feet. I jumped out and landed beside her.  
Fang scurried to my shoulder and I smiled. "Top of the morning, Fang!"  
Kole looked up and smiled at me. "Sounds like you slept well."  
"Like a baby mooselion. I'm ready," I said with an attacking position, "to face the Fire Lord."  
"So what's your strategy for taking me down? Going to get your glow on and hit him with a little Avatar State action?" As Elise spoke, her fingers fluttered in front of her eyes and then she punched the air repeatedly.  
I looked down dejectedly. "I can't. When Athera shot me with lightning, my 7th chakra was locked, cutting off my connection to all the cosmic energy in the Universe."  
"You know what I just heard? Blah blah spiritual mumbo jumbo blah blah something about space," Elise said and I shook my head.  
I wasn't even going to try, she wouldn't understand even if I drew it out for her in the dirt.  
Kole and Alana looked up and to followed my gaze as we looked at something foggy near the horizon.  
"Oh no. Alana, do you think the fog will delay the invasion?" he asked, worried.  
Alana shook her head, her eyes sparkling with delight. "No, that is the invasion."  
After a few moments, five Water Tribe ships appeared out of the fog. I saw Kodah peering through a telescope with Cato standing beside me. Both were wearing Water Tribe warrior armor.  
Elise and I walked over and stood at the port, earthbending some docks. Kole and Alana ran towards their father with Kole proceeded to embrace him.  
"You made it Dad!" Kole said.  
Alana was just as excited. "Were you able to locate everyone I told you to find?"  
"I did. But I'm a little worried, Alana," her father said and looked behind at Due and Tho who were descending from the ship. "Some of these men aren't exactly the warrior type."  
Due was excited and full of energy. "Whooo-wheee. This place ain't nothing like a swamp," he pointed to a rock "What'd you reckon that is, Tho? Some sort of exploding Fire Nation exploding trap that would eat ya?"  
Tho looked at him dully. "It's just a rock, Due."  
"Well, I'll be."  
Kodah shook his head and looked at his daughter, skeptical. "Is it just me, or are those fellas a little loose in the leaf head?"  
Cato laughed. "I just wish they would wear pants."  
Hue scratched his abdomen. "Pants are an illusion and so is death."  
Kodah, Cato, and Kole all had confused and worried looked on their faces while Alana just smiled widely. "Hi, Kole," a familiar voice said and we looked up to see Haru walking onto the deck. He looked pretty much the same except he had grown some facial hair.  
"Haru," Kole said and ran and embrace him and slapped his shoulder. "It's so good to see you."  
I walked towards Haru and gave an introduction. "Elise, this is Haru. When we met him, his town was controlled by the Fire Nation. So he had to hide his earthbending."  
"Kole inspired me and my Father to take back our village," Haru said as Tyro approached and Kole smiled widely.  
Tyro placed a hand on their shoulders. "You helped us find our courage, Kole. Now we're here to help you."  
Elise suddenly froze and looked, surprised.  
"No way." She bristled got into a defensive stance. "Is that…"  
A pair of huge hands appeared and carried Elise up.  
Hippo embraced Elise who was not happy. "Hippo happy to see Blind Bandit!"  
"You guys here for a re-match?" Elise spat angrily.  
The Boulder was now also standing behind Hippo. "Negatory. The Boulder and The Hippo no longer fight for others' entertainment. Now, we fight for our Kingdom!" He raised both arms up in enthusiasm.  
"Sweet," Elise said, relaxing with a smile.  
Alana watched the whole scene a short distance away. After a moment, she turned her head towards her Father. Suddenly, a boat exploded behind Alana and Kodah, shocking them both as they proceeded to run towards it. The Mechanist appeared from the lower deck, his face covered with orange goo, coughing. Cash wheeled his wheelchair down the gangplank. His father, The Duke and Pipsqueak trailed behind him.  
Alana laughed and smiled at him. "Was that a new invention?"  
"Yes," the Mechanist said as Cash licked the orange goo off his hands. "But unfortunately, the incendiary capabilities of peanut sauce proved to be a failure."  
Alana frowned. "You're making peanut sauce bombs?"  
The Duke came by, piggybacking on Pipsqueak's back. Their faces were covered with peanut sauce as well.  
Pipsqueak smiled. "They're destructive."  
"And Delicious!" The Duke said and both proceeded to lick sauce off their faces. Fang jumped on Pipsqueak and tried to lick his face to the amusement of both boys who laughed.  
"Were you able to complete work on the plans I sent you?" Alana asked.  
The Mechanist nodded. "Yes, I was and I think the Fire Nation would be quite surprised."  
"Odette," Cash said as he approached me. He took a pole-like object from his wheelchair. "My Dad and I made this for you."  
I took the object and beautiful blue "wings" popped out from the sides.  
Amazed and touched, I admired my new glider. "A new glider! This is amazing."  
"And as a special feature, I added a snack compartment," The Mechanist said and placed his head under the handle and pulled it. Peanuts tumbled out of the compartment into his mouth.  
I laughed and gave him an odd look. "Oh well, I'm sure that will come in handy."  
Where, I wasn't sure.

Ira:

In the Fire Nation prison, I sat contentedly in my cell while Warden Poon filed his nails.  
"I bet you're tired to be in that cell, old man," he drawled loudly. "Well, too bad. You're never stepping outside these walls again."  
A female guard stepped in carrying a tray of food.  
"breakfast," Ming said pleasantly, smiling at me kindly.  
Warden Poon stood up. "Careful, Ming. Don't get too close. His stench will knock you right out."  
He cackled and exited the room while Ming looked at him, annoyed.  
"I snuck in some white jade tea. I know you like rare teas," she said.  
So kind…I was glad she was here to keep me company.  
"Thank you, Ming," I said gratefully and took the cup of tea. "Ever since I was put in here, you have been very kind to me."  
Ming tilted her head and smiled embarrassedly.

Odette:

Our group of Water Tribe warriors and Earth Kingdom soldiers were sitting around and having our meal as we prepared for battle. Alana had gathered up her scrolls in her hand and was currently gulping nervously.  
Kodah saw her expression and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, you'll do great."  
Alana took a deep breath and walked to the platform.  
"Good morning, everyone!" she said. She tripped and started to pick up her fallen scrolls hurriedly. "Uhm... So, as you know today we're invading the Fire Nation. I mean I know you know that," she said and laughed nervously. "Because otherwise why else would you be here. Anyway…"  
She clumsily dropped more scrolls and picked them up and placed it on a board. "The Fire Lord's palace is here."  
She pointed to the map. "Uh no, uh wait."  
She flipped to another map.  
"Uh wait."  
She flipped again.  
"Uh wait…"  
She flipped for the final time and pointed at the correct map. "It's here and uh there's an eclipse today and Odette's going to fight the Fire Lord and the firebenders won't have any fire to use so that's good for us and uhm…" She started to panic. "I'm sorry, let me start at the beginning."  
Alana looked down and tried to compose herself. "Kole and I discovered Odette frozen in an iceberg. Now I didn't like Odette at first but I grew to love her over time. Then we went over to the Southern Air Temple where she used to live and then we met Tarren, who is a Kyoshi warrior. He made me dress like a woman and then he kissed me…"  
Kole leaned over and spoke quietly to me. "Wow, she says beginning, she means beginning, beginning.  
Alana was still jabbering away. "...and then Odette's friend was a crazy old man and then Kole got Haru arrested and then now he's grown a mustache and if you look in the front row you can see him…"  
"Thank you, Alana," Kodah said and placed a reassuring hand on Alana's shoulder. "It's okay, why don't you take a broke?"  
Alana looked rather disappointed but obliged.  
"Let me just clarify a few points for everyone. Today is the Day of Black Sun," Kodah said and a group of Earth Kingdom soldiers and Haru and Tyro started to take interest in what he said. "And I want to thank you all for your self sacrifice and your courage. They're two steps to the invasion. A naval stage and then a land stage. To gain sea access to the Fire Nation capital, we have to get pass our first major obstacle here." He pointed to the center of the map. "The Great Gates of Athra." He then flipped to another map. "We hit the land and we hit hard." He threw his fist against the map to emphasize his point. "We must fight past their battlements and secure the plaza tower. Once we do that, it's up to the royal palace. At that point, the eclipse will begin."  
Boulder raised a hand to ask a question. "Excuse me, The Boulder is confused. Isn't the point to invade during the eclipse? When the firebenders are powerless?"  
"The eclipse only last 8 minutes. Not enough time for the whole invasion and the royal palace is heavily guarded by firebenders. So that's where we'll need the eclipse advantage the most. When this is finished, the Avatar would have defeated the Fire Lord. We would have control of the Fire Nation capital and this war will be over!" Kodah cheered.  
Everyone cheered along with him. Our gang joined in the excited shout but Alana looked away, downcast.

Kole:

I waterbending water from the river into my pouch as Elise put on a wrist guard. Dad was putting on his head gear which resembled a wolf's head. Emrys's - all geared up in silver and blue armor - stamped the ground with her foot, growling. A golden arrow traveled along her back and the point ended just above her eyes, pointing straight down the center of her face. When she moved, it glinted in the sunlight.  
Odette was loosely braiding her hair by the river and she's wearing a custom made battle outfit that my father had found for her while gathering the troops.  
She wore black leather boots that came up to her shins, an iron cuirass that fit perfectly, gauntlets and greaves, and black pants that fit perfectly and would allow her to move as easily and flexibly as she always would. It was a different look than normal but I liked it. She looked strong, powerful, unstoppable, and fierce. She was ready.  
She finished pulling her hair back and tossed it over her shoulder so it fell in a straight line down to the middle of her back. She'd missed a few strands of her hair and they fell gently on her face, enhancing her beauty as the color contrasted with her smooth, clear skin. She stood up on cue, glider in hand, ready to enter battle. A koala-sheep appeared beside Odette and bleated while Odette patted its head.

Ren:

In my bedroom, I looked at myself in the mirror. I was wearing the traditional garb of the Fire Prince, top knot included. The person in the mirror was not myself…it was just the image of the man people had molded me to be. I had known what the right choice was all along, and it was time for me to face it without my fears weighing me down.  
As I'd traveled in exile, I'd finally seen the way my people were hurting others. I had begun to question my ways, and everything I knew was challenged. Being back home…it didn't change anything. Those things were still happening, to good people. My people had to be stopped…this reign of terror we held over the world had to end.  
I turned away from myself and stood near my bed. A little sadly, I reached up and removed the pin that fastened my crown in place with one hand and the crown with the other. My hair fell back to its original place, just reaching the bottom of my jaw, and I placed both objects into my belt. I proceeded to remove the shoulder padding from my armor and set it on my bed.  
I turned and grabbed calligraphy brushes, an ink plate and a piece of paper with 2 wooden paperweights on it. I smoothened the paper with one of the wooden blocks and stared at is for the longest time. It wasn't that I didn't know what or how to say the things I needed say to Naveen. I was simply scared and it was that fear that made me hesitate, like usual.  
As soon as I walked out this door I would be free, free of her and of this miserable life I was leading. And I had every right to be terrified out of my wits…for all I knew after this everyone would wind up hating me…especially the person I loved the most.  
I sighed and went for it, dipping my brush into the ink.  
The risk would be worth it.

Odette:

I flew around the air, testing out my new glider which worked amazing. Below me, I spotted Alana who was looking at her Water Tribe headgear despondently. I flew down and landed beside her.  
"We've been looking everywhere for you. The boats are ready to leave," I said.  
Alana still seemed to be disappointed with herself. "I messed up, Odette."  
"What?"  
"The invasion plan was my moment of truth. And I completely flopped it. I just fell apart…"  
"Alana," I walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "that speech wasn't your moment of truth. That was just public speaking and nobody's really good at that."  
"My Dad is. He explained the plan perfectly and inspired everyone. Like a real leader should," she sighed.  
"Look, your moment of truth isn't going to be in front of some map. It's going to be out there," I pointed to the vast ocean in front of us, "on the battlefield."  
Alana shook her head and smiled at me slightly. "You seem so confident about everything. How do you know we're going to win?"  
I looked at her seriously. "Because I already failed the world once at Eralith. I won't let myself fail again."

Kole:

The five ships headed out into the sea.  
"There they are," Cato said after a few minutes of sailing, looking the telescope at what must have been the statue of Fire Lord Athra. "The Great Gates of Athra."  
"I don't see any gates," I said, peering around, seeing nothing but fog in front of me.  
The swampbenders and I all tried desperately to peer through the dense fog.  
"Kole, you and the swampbenders whip up a fog cover," Dad said an I nodded.  
Tho looked at me. "We'll sneak by that statues just like we sneaked by that fire navy blockade."  
I smiled and the swampbenders and I jumped into position, spreading our hands apart at the same time and the boats were rapidly covered in fog. At the statue of Athra, nets could be seen coming out from the statue's sleeves  
"Keep it up, we're almost through," I said.  
An alarm sounded.  
Smoke emitted from the dragon statue's snout and the net rose above the fog. The alarm stopped and someone firebended from the dragon's mouth, engulfing the net in flames. The net continued to rise out from the water and fire slowly spread through it. Athra's statue had a net of fire on both sides of the statue's arms as Alana looked on in disbelief.  
The boats stopped directly in front of the net. Odette, Kodah, Cato and I were all in shock. Our heads turned as the sound of Fire Nation jet skis pierced the silence. A handful of jet skis could be seen rushing towards the boats.  
Dad ushered the invasion force. "Everyone below deck. Let's hope your invention works."  
Dad looked at Alana confidently and both proceed to join the others below as the net of flames still raged. The jet skis were seen stopping beside each boat as the last of us made it down below.  
As the guards proceed to search each of the ships, five of our submarines, carrying everyone safely inside, slipped by the gates undetected. Emrys was swimming with air bubble over her head. The machines were operated with waterbending, using a pulling motion to move us forward.  
As Hue and I waterbended inside out machine, Alana, Dad, Cato and Pipsqueak stood behind The Mechanist who was sitting in front of a control panel. "You really outdone yourself this time, sweetheart," Dad said to Alana  
I smiled at her proudly and then looked at Elise who was holding her head down.  
"Yeah. Congratulations, Alana," she said and lifted her head up. There was look of discomfort on her face. "You managed to invent a worst way of travel than flying."  
Elise started to gag.  
The Duke took off his helmet and offered it to Elise. "Helmet?"  
Elise accepted and vomited into it and I wrinkled my nose in disgust, looking away.  
"Well, I just came up with the idea but The Mechanist did all the work," Alana said.  
The Mechanist smiled at her. "But don't sell yourself short, my dear. It was your idea to use waterbending to make the subs sink and float. Brilliant, though your original designs were a bit difficult to decipher."  
He unrolled a scroll with a picture of a whale with people inside drawn in cartoon style. "Unfortunately, there is one problem I couldn't fix. The subs have a limited air supply. Before we land on the beaches, we'll need to resurface."

Ira:

Ming entered my jail cell, carrying a tray of food.  
"Lunchtime, General Ira," she smiled and lowered her voice to a whisper. "And this time, I brought you an extra bowl of rice."  
"Thank you, Ming. Your little gestures of kindness had made my days in prison bearable," I looked at her closely, concerned. "I think you should take the rest of the day off."  
"What?" she asked, looking confused.  
"You don't look well," I said and grabbed the bars. "Maybe you should go home and rest."  
"No, I feel fine," Ming assured me.  
She wasn't taking the hint…I didn't want to hurt her, she had to stay home today.  
"Trust me," I said, looking rather serious. "It is better that you are not here this afternoon."  
Ming frowned curiously but nodded and complied as she reluctantly left the room.

Kole:

The submarines emerged above the water. The Duke scooped water in his helmet, sloshing it around for a while before dumping the contents back into the sea. The Boulder and The Hippo were doing some stretching and warming up exercises. Odette jumped up and landed on the submarine as the rest of our gang walked towards her.  
She turned to us, her face sad but fiercely determined.  
She was so amazing…how could I let her go?  
"So, this is it huh?" she asked.  
Alana nodded, just as sad. "Are you ready for the Fire Nation to know the Avatar's alive?"  
"I'm ready," Odette, said with a wink, smirking confidently. Alana laughed and grasped her arm, wishing her luck. Our group and Fang gathered around her for a group hug.  
Elise smiled and punched her lightly. "I hope you kick some serious Fire Lord butt, twinkle toes."  
"Everyone listen up," my father said and we looked up at him as he addressed the entire invasion force from the submarine's entrance. "The next time we resurface, it'll be on the beaches. So stay alert and fight smart. Now broke time's over, back in the subs."  
Elise and Alana hugged Odette once more before walking back while I remained behind. Both of us stared at each other and looked away.  
"Odette, I."  
"Kole, I."  
We both spoke simultaneously.  
Odette smiled slightly and gesture to me. "You go first."  
"We've been through so many things together and I've seen you grow up so much. You're not that little goofy kid I found in the iceberg anymore. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm really proud of you," I said, making her blush.  
Odette smiled at me, her wonderful, pale grey eyes sparkling. "Everything is going to be different after today, isn't it?"  
I nodded. "Yes, it is."  
She smiled and prepared to take off.  
I looked down, uncertain. "What if... what if you don't come back?"  
"Kole, don't say that. Of course I'll...  
I cut off the conversation with a kiss, much to the surprise of Odette. We parted and I blushed as she looked away sadly. Odette opened her glider and flew off as I watched her go.  
I looked into the sky after her, still blushing. The entrance to the submarine opened and Alana's head popped out.  
"Kole, what are you doing? It's time to submerge," she snapped.  
I snapped out of my dazed mood. "What? Right, I'm on it."  
I waterbended myself to Emrys and proceeded to bend an air bubble around her head. Emrys growled and the entire invasion force began to submerge.

Ren:

Inside Naveen's house, I walked through the living room quietly, hooded in my cloak. As I made my way to her room, I spotted a picture of Naveen and I. I stared at it for a moment before looking away, my guilt eating me away. Every memory of me that I had given her had been a complete lie on my part. I was a horrible person and I didn't deserve to be happy…but I at least owed it to the girl to broke things off now, it was better for the both of us.  
"I'm sorry, Naveen," I sighed and walked towards her bed and placed a scroll on the pillow, a scroll that would ruin everything between us forever, and that was okay with me.

Odette:

I sailed through the air on my glider over a grassy plain. I looked at my growling stomach and realized that I hadn't eaten anything all day or last night. I had been a bundle of nerves lately. I maneuvered the handle to release peanuts into my mouth and I chew happily, mentally thanking the Mechanic.  
"What did you know? It did come in handy," I laughed. Growing serious, I fixed my eyes on the horizon and added more speed and flew towards the Fire Nation capital.

Alana:

A periscope rose above the water surface. Looking through it, my dad was easily able to spot the gate to the Fire Nation capital.  
"Everyone in position. Earthbenders, into your tanks," he said and Elise and the Earth Kingdom soldiers descended a ladder to their positions. "This is going to be a rough ride."  
The submarines approached the gate as an alarm similar to the one heard at the Great Gates of Athra sounded. Harpoons shot out from various battlements into the water as the submarines tried to dodge them. Harpoons continuously filled the water and Emrys narrowly avoided being impaled by one. Due waterbended the submarine as a harpoon pierced through the submarine, filling the ship with water. He froze the water and lost his balance as the harpoon reeled the submarine in. The submarine slowly was pulled out of the water. Kole and Emrys saw the situation from underwater and began to ascend. Emrys roared as she left the water and Kole proceeded to cut the harpoon with waterbending, allowing the submarine to land safely back into the water as it continued on like nothing had ever happened. The submarines were heading towards some holes in a wall. Dad looked through the periscope.  
"Ready the torpedo."  
A torpedo encased in ice was loaded by 2 engineers. They locked and sealed the canon.  
Dad waited for a moment. "Launch!"  
Hue did a waterbending move and torpedoes shot out from the bottom of all the submarines, destroying the gratings on the wall. On the surface, columns of water sprayed upwards upon impact. The submarines entering the holes in the wall.  
We were now near the shore.  
The Earth Kingdom soldiers and Water Tribe warriors were waiting in their tanks. I sighed during the wait. The submarines resurfaced and headed towards the shore while numerous projectiles were hurled at the submarines. The submarines landed on shore and their base retracts, revealing a team of caterpillar tanks. The tanks advanced towards the capital as projectiles continued to be thrown at the submarines. The soldiers and warriors emitted battle cries and rushed out to attack.  
The invasion force was on its way to the capital city, projectiles still being thrown. Earth Kingdom soldiers moved their feet in a pushing motion to move the tanks. I lead a team of Water Tribe warriors, all of us carrying weapons and shields.  
A battlement launched a projectile but missed our group. A truck loaded with rocks made its way through the battlefield, releasing 3 rocks which Elise, The Boulder and The Hippo used to earthbend towards a battlement, destroying it in the process.  
Emrys landed and Kole dismounted. A group of Fire Nation tanks made its way into the battlefield, firebending at their enemies at the same time. The tanks still advanced towards the capital as projectiles continued to be thrown at the submarines. Cash, who was inside a caterpillar tank, made it crawl up a battlement as the firebenders inside tried to destroy the tank with firebending to no avail. The tank proceeded to crush the roof of the battlement. Another caterpillar tank crushed a Fire Nation tank and moved on when the job is done.  
More reinforcements were sent in and they surrounded the invasion force. Swampbenders stopped in their tracks as they spotted incoming enemy tanks. They bended water from barrels on a truck to shield ourselves from enemy fire. They proceeded to waterbend the sides of the Fire Nation tank and it spun uncontrollably, causing it to crash into the sides of another Fire Nation tank.  
Tho was bending water in a circular motion. "We're a man down. Where in tarnation is Hue?"  
Tho and Due unleashed their attack and a Fire Nation tank hurtled into the water. A shadow could be seen moving underwater and it turned out to be the swamp monster from The Swamp. It blocked a fire blast with one hand and began to elongate its arms to grab a tank. Fire Nation soldiers left the tanks at the last minute. Another tank firebended at the swamp monster and Fire Nation soldiers escaped the tank before it got crushed by the swamp monster's arm. A female firebender bended fire from the mouth of a tank. She and her companion escaped as the swamp monster threw the tank aside.  
Due and Tho traced the path of the tank being thrown into a battlement. The battlement exploded into flames upon impact and he waved. "Hey Hue, where you been?"  
A hole appeared in the middle of the swamp monster's body, revealing Hue's face. "Communing with nature. Takes a while to collect these lux seaweed."  
He spotted an incoming attack and quickly covered his face as a fire blast narrowly tried to injure him. Fire Nation soldiers on komodo rhinos began to catapult small projectiles of fire towards me and a group of Water Tribe warriors. The projectiles exploded harmlessly behind our group as we continued to press forward. The komodo rhinos charged towards us. A rhino disbanded from the herd and headed towards me as I jumped on a komodo rhino's horn and sliced a Fire Nation's soldier's spear neatly in half. I kicked the soldier off the komodo rhino as I gained control of it.  
"Dad, look out!" I screamed.  
Dad blocked a fire blast with his shield. A Fire Nation soldier charged towards him with his spear as he blocked the attack with his shield. The Fire Nation soldier executed a move which relieved Dad of his shield. Dad maneuvered his own spear and relieved the Fire Nation soldier of his weapon, leaving Dad with 2 spears. He used his weapons to knock down another firebending soldier. He then threw one of his spears towards 2 soldiers, knocking them down and jumped onto my komodo rhino.  
A projectile destroyed the truck loaded with rocks. The driver was comically driving the destroyed truck while the swamp monster destroyed 2 Fire Nation tanks in one swipe. A fire blast came out of nowhere and the swamp monster lost an arm. A group of invasion force soldiers marched beside a caterpillar tank. They retreated when the tank got knocked over by an enemy projectile.  
Dad looked at the above situation. "Alana, we've got to take out those battlements. It's our only chance."  
I looked up at a battlement and narrowed my eyebrows. "I've got an idea."

Kole:

Alana hung off Emrys's horn as she flew through the air with me on her head and Dad in the saddle. Alana unleashed her sword from its hilt and cut off a projectile from a battlement. Dad threw 2 small grenades into another battlement. Fire Nation soldiers opened the door to escape as the battlement exploded a split second later. They groaned from the impact.  
I breaking a barrel via waterbending and threw the water inside a battlement, freezing a female soldier inside as she gave a yelp of surprise. Emrys landed between 2 battlements.  
And all 3 of us dismounted.  
"You two take out that battlement. I've got this one. Watch each other's backs." Dad headed towards his battlement while we headed towards the other.  
Alana's sword cut through a metal door with me freezing the guards inside with waterbending. Alana climbed the ladder destroyed the projectile. The battlement exploded as we left. We paused and saw our father entering the battlement through the roof with his club. Sounds of swords clashing was heard and I heard Dad grunting in pain as an explosion cam through the window.  
Alana and I looked on, shocked, as Dad opened the door, holding his side and moaning. He staggered a few steps before collapsing.  
"Dad?" I yelled, terrified  
"Dad!" Alana screamed.  
We ran toward him and checked his condition.

Ren:

I gazed sadly up at a portrait of Lady Elena, my mother. She would be so ashamed of me if she were still here…she would probably hate me. She had taught me to be stronger than I had been acting…she had taught me to do the right thing. I had really let her down…brought shame to her, not my father. I was disgusted to call myself even her son anymore.  
My heart saddened, I kneeled in front of her picture.  
"I know I made some bad choices. But today, I'm going to set things right," I promised her. I would make her proud of me again.  
I grabbed my broadswords and backpack before looking at my mother's portrait for one last time.  
Determined, I threw on my cloak and walked away.

Kole:

Emrys landed back on the ground.  
Dad grunted as he was being laid on the ground by Alana. I bended water from my pouch and moved my hands across Dad's wound, healing it in the process.  
"How does that feel, Dad?" I asked, praying that he would be okay.  
"A... a little better." He sat up. "I need... to get back... to the troops."  
He moaned in agony.  
I glared at him sternly. "You're hurt. Badly. You can't fight anymore."  
"Everyone's counting on me to lead this mission, Kole," he said and winced in pain. "I won't let them down."  
He tried to get up before falling back to the ground in pain.  
Alana looked at me. "Can't you heal him any faster?"  
"I'm doing everything I can."  
Alana looked away before closing her eyes to make a decision. "I'll do it."  
I snorted. "No offense Alana but you're not exactly Mrs. Healing Hands."  
"No." She stood up. "I'll lead the invasion force."  
I started. "Don't be crazy, Alana."  
"Maybe I am a little crazy but the eclipse is about to start and we need to be up that volcano by the time it does," she snapped and looked at the volcano.  
Dad laid on the ground. "You can do this. I'm proud of you, sweetheart."  
"I still think you're crazy but I'm proud of you too," I said, smiling at her.  
I looked at my sister with an encouraging smile.  
She nodded back and put on her head gear and mounted Emrys.  
"Yip yip."  
Emrys grunted and soared.

Alana:

As I flew over, I looked down smugly at the damaged Fire Nation vehicles. Most of the Fire Nation tanks were encased in ice. The caterpillar tanks were leaving the mess behind and heading towards the volcano. More projectiles were hurled towards the caterpillar tanks. Emrys landed and used her head to knock back a Fire Nation tank.  
I raised my voice, catching everyone's attention.  
"Listen up everyone, I want the tanks in wedge formation! Warriors and benders in the middle." Elise and the Earth Kingdom soldiers moved into action. "We're taking that tower," I pointed at it, "and headed for the royal palace!"  
The caterpillar tanks moved into said formation. I was right in front with Emrys, terrified, exhilarated, and fiercely determined all at the same time. I was a bit of a mess.  
I grabbed my sword and pointed toward the enemy. "Charge!"

Odette:

I opened my glider as I flew into the city, preparing for an attack. I neared a roof and closed my glider, peeking out and looking down at the empty streets.  
I frowned and straightened. "That's strange."  
I leaped off the roof and still nothing happened. Maybe everyone was inside or the troops were all down at the invasion force, but that didn't seem likely.  
I ran towards the palace doors. Hesitating for the briefest moment, I flung the doors open, filling the once dark corridor with light as I got into a defensive position.  
"The Avatar is back!" I announced smugly. I looked around, surprised that no one was there to receive me.  
And that had probably been the coolest entrance I had ever made.  
Figures.  
"Hello?" I looked around and walked slowly towards the inner palace doors. "Anyone home?"

Alana:

I shook my head at a lone Fire Nation soldier trying to fight the advancing caterpillar tanks. He slowly retreated as we climbed up the stairs towards the capital. Two Fire Nation soldiers did their best to firebend at a caterpillar tank but they also retreat when no damage was done. A mini-truck and two caterpillar tanks pressed forward.  
I jumped off the mini-truck - loaded with barrels of explosives - just before it collided into a wall, exploding upon impact. The defense wall was covered in smoke and when it cleared and the invasion force charged into the capital. Fire Nation guards and tanks retreated while three of the Fire Nation soldiers at the front sent three continuous blasts towards our group. The shields of our invasion force blocked the fire blasts with ease.  
"The Fire Nation is falling back!" Tyro called as we charged through.  
Emrys landed behind Cato who was smiling largely.  
"Alana, we're on our way to victory," he said, smiling proudly as I looked at the volcano.

Odette:

I airbended a Fire Nation drapery out of the way and got into a defensive stance as I entered a room. My face was filled with disbelief as I saw what was before me. I looked around at an empty and dark throne room.  
"No…"  
Realizing what was going on, I dropped my glider and kneeled on the floor in shock. I started shaking my head in disbelief.  
"No, no, NO! Fire Lord Mordred," I raised my voice in trembling anger. "Where are you?!"  
My voice reverberated slightly throughout the empty throne room.


	11. Chapter 11: The Eclipse

Alana:

I looked up at the sun with the moon just beginning to overlap it. The submarines were at the water, guarded by Hue and six other warriors. In the plaza, destroyed, smoking tanks were strewn about. Fire Nation tanks and soldiers were shooting fire blasts at the caterpillar tanks, which had formed a semi circle against the plaza wall.  
On the caterpillar tanks, the sides flipped open and earthbenders lobbed stones at the firebenders. A Fire Nation soldier signaled the catapults to fire. The projectiles flew through the air as the earthbenders' stones and shockwaves destroyed the catapults.  
Cato, an earth bender, and I were examining a map on the ground from behind the tanks. Behind us, Elise shot a rock through the side of the tank just before a fireball collide into the tank. I winced at the loud explosion and looked up and saw Kole helping Dad through the plaza's large doorways. He was holding his side, still wounded.  
"Dad! You're on your feet again," I said in relief.  
Elise and I ran towards Kole and my father. Kole lets him sit down.  
"Thanks to your brother. I'm in no shape to fight but maybe there is someway I could help," he said.  
"Everything's going smoothly and the eclipse hasn't even kicked in yet," I said.  
"Let's hope our luck holds out. Kole, you seem distracted. Is something wrong?" Dad asked.  
Kole took a few steps forward and looked out in the distance. "Yeah... Is that... is that Odette?"  
"What?" I whipped around.  
Odette glided towards us, dodging the numerous fireballs. She landed in front of her friends, troubled.  
I pinched the bridge of my nose worriedly. "Please tell you're here because the Fire Lord turned out to be a big wimp and you didn't even need the eclipse to take him down?"  
Odette sighed, furious. "He wasn't home. No one was. The entire palace city is abandoned."  
"They knew," I gasped as I came to realization.  
Odette shook her head, shaking with anger still. "It's over. The Fire Lord is probably long gone. Far away on some remote island where he'll be safe during the eclipse."  
"No. My instincts tell me he wouldn't go too far. He would have a secret bunker. Somewhere he could go so it'll be safe during a siege but still be close enough to lead his nation," I argued.  
Elise nodded. "If it's an underground secret bunker we're looking for, I'm just the girl to find it."  
I pulled out a small device resembling a pocket watch. It ticked, and there was a dial and notches on one section of it.  
"The Mechanist gave me this timing device. It looked like we've got about 10 minutes until the full eclipse. 10 minutes to find the Fire Lord," I said.  
Odette nodded, perking up a bit. "We can still do this. We can still win the day."  
"Wait. If they knew we were coming, it could all be a trap. Maybe we should use the time we have left to make sure all of us get out of here safely," Kole said.  
"Everyone who's here today came prepared to risk everything for this mission. They know what's at stake. If there's still a chance and there's still hope, I think they would want Odette to go for it," Dad said, smiling slightly at her.  
I turned to her. "What do you think? You're the one who has to face the Fire Lord. Whatever you decide, I'm with you."  
Odette stood up and faced toward the battlefield defiantly.  
"I've got to try."

Odette:

Emrys flew towards the top of the volcano where the Fire Nation capital was. She landed on the side, and Alana, Elise, and I jumped off her.  
"Do you feel anything down there?" I asked the earthbender, anxious.  
Elise placed her hand to the ground and nodded. "Yep. There are natural tunnels criss-crossing through the inside of the volcano."  
"Anything else? Is there a structure somewhere?" Alana asked.  
Elise extended her hands to each side before plunging them into the ground, gripping the earth with her fingers. "There's something big, dense, and made of metal deep in the heart of the volcano."  
Alana smirked. "Sounds like a secret bunker to me."  
Elise thrust her hands forward, bending a hole into the side of the volcano. Fang barked and curiously stuck his head out from behind the headpiece on Emrys's armor.  
I looked at them. "Stay safe. We'll be back soon."  
Elise, Alana, and I entered though the hole into a dark tunnel. Elise kneeled down and felt the ground before running down one side of the tunnel. Alana and I quickly followed.  
"This way! That one's a dead end," she said.  
Alana sighed. "What would we do without you?"  
"Perish and burn in hot magma."  
I laughed at them as we crawled past a small stream of lava and Alana flinched away from it.  
Alana nodded her head in agreement at Elise's smart statement. "Yeah, pretty much."  
The three of us came to a cavern filled with active lava vents all over the floor.  
"The tunnel continues on the other side and it leads right to the bunker," Elise said.  
Alana looked at me seriously. "We'll have to be fast but careful."  
Alana attempted to run across, but was immediately stopped by one of the vents erupting. She yelled in surprise and shielded herself as I swung my staff at it, bending a gust of wind and cooling down the lava.  
I glared at her. "How was that careful?"  
Alana shrugged. "I was wrong. We need to be fast, careful and lucky."  
Elise, Alana, and I ran across the cavern, carefully dodging the steam and lava coming from the vents. When we got to the other side, we all stopped and looked around, dismayed. We were standing on a small cliff above a large river of lava.  
Alana gaped. "There's no floor! It's just a river of lava."  
I spun my staff and extended the glider wings. "Climb aboard and hold on tight."  
Alana and Elise held on to the top of my glider as I glided through the lava tunnel, screaming with fright. I banked left and right, avoiding a stone column and a lava explosion. We all made it to the other side and landed easily before continuing on foot. Cut to an overhead shot of the cavern floor. Elise, Alana, and I ran up to a large metal bunker built against the cavern wall.  
Alana nodded impressively. "That's some door!"  
Elise walked up to the door, placed her ear against it, and knocked on it, producing a metallic thud.  
Elise smirked. "Not a problem."  
She took a step back before bashing her elbows into the door, fracturing and denting it. She took another step back, kissed her middle and index fingers, and forcefully stabbed them through the middle of the door. Elise kicked a hole through the metal and her leg burst through. She widened the opening and stepped through and then pointed in a direction and took off, followed by Alana and I.  
Alana beamed. "I am so glad we added you to our group."

Kole:

The invasion force made it's way up the path towards the top of the capitol. Three caterpillar tanks and a legion of soldiers moved up the path while fireballs were flung at them. A Fire Nation battlement from below threw fireballs from it. The fireball hit the metal shields that the earthbenders were carrying over their heads. The Boulder and the Hippo ran towards the cliffside under the battlement, slapped their hands against it, and earthbend an avalanche, demolishing the battlement. The same was done to another.  
The Fire Nation commanding officers began to panic. They turned around and looked at the sky as did the rest of us. The moon was slowly starting to move over the sun.  
"Retreat! Everyone move to secondary defensive position! Retreat!" an officer screamed, afraid.  
The battlement behind him tipped over and fell over. Three firebenders retreated as three caterpillar tanks drew close to them. Cato was hanging on the back of one of the tanks, addressing the other soldiers.  
"The eclipse is only minutes away. We should be able to make it up the hill by the time it starts and secure the entire palace by the time it's finished!" he said.  
The soldiers all gave a hearty battle cry. I smiled as I held my Dad up over my shoulder.  
"We can wait here if you want," I offered.  
Dad shook his head. "No. I want to press forward with the others."  
Relieved, we also continued forward.

Odette:

I looked up at the rafters inside the Fire Nation bunker. As we ran, we bumped into a war minister walking down a tunnel. Alana, Elise, and I ran down a tunnel on the other side that merged with the first one. The minister whistled a tune just as I came to the end of the wall and the three of us run past him. He gasped in shock.  
We turned around and brandished our weapons at him, Elise stomping the ground and popping a rocking into the air. The minister pressed his back against the wall and raised his hands in surrender.  
"The Fire Lord's chamber is that way down the hall to the left and up the stairs. You can't miss it," he said.  
Alana, Elise, and I all stepped in closer to him.  
I glared at him darkly before suddenly smiling cheerfully. "Thanks."  
We left him, Alana giving him one last dirty look.  
As we ran, Alana pulled out the Mechanist's device and checked our time. "Only 30 seconds until the total eclipse."  
Great.  
The three of us came to another large door with a flame symbol on the front and at the top. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.  
"I'm ready. I'm ready to face the Fire Lord," I said.  
Let's go!  
I spun my staff up and forward and the door was blown off its hinges by my blast of air. We came into a room that was one large hall supported by thick metal beams on both sides, lit by torchlight. There was a single throne at the end of the hall.  
We slid to a halt as we realized it was Athera who was lounging on the throne instead of the Fire Lord.  
Athera zeroed in on me and smirked. "So, you are alive after all. RenRen lied after all."  
I just stared at her in utter, speechless shock. Alana was as shocked as I.  
" had a hunch that you survived. It doesn't matter, I've known about the invasion for months." She smirked the nastiest smirk I had ever seen in my life.

Ren:

I stood before a small door deep within the tunnels of my father's bunker. I had my broadswords slung on my back as I braced myself for what was about to come.  
I took a deep breath and let it out. "I'm ready to face you."  
I slid the door open.  
There were elite guards with spears standing at the front. Fire Lord Mordred - might as well think of him as that I men, he never really was a father to me anyways - was just about to take a sip from a steaming cup of tea when he noticed me.  
"Prince Ren, what are you doing here?" he asked, unpleased with me as usual.  
Readier than ever, I walked towards the line of guards.

Kole:

The moon passed over the sun, covering almost all of it. A group of water tribe warriors marched up the volcano and a tank passed by on the other side. The Mechanist walked around before looking back at the invasion force.  
"The eclipse is starting. Put on your eclipse glasses," he bellowed.  
The Mechanist took off his monocle and placed a visor with thin slits over his eyes. The warriors stopped marching for a moment and did the same before continuing on. Dad and I, with our eclipse glasses on, looked towards the sun as the moon completely blacked it out.

Ren:

I stood in front of Mordred and his guards.  
"Why are you here?" he asked harshly.  
"I'm here to tell the truth." Something I had not done in many years…  
"Telling the truth during the middle of an eclipse. This should be interesting," my father replied. Mordred waved his hand and his guards left through doors on both sides of the chamber.  
"First of all, in Eralith, it was Athera who took down the Avatar, not me," I said.  
Fire Lord Mordred frowned. "Why would she lie to me about that?"  
Here we go.  
"Because the Avatar is not dead. She survived."  
"What?!" he snarled, alarmed.  
"In fact, She probably is leading this invasion. She could be on us right now," I said and felt a small smile pass over my lips. My Odette…capable of unrelenting kindness and love and also pure power and destruction. She certainly was a character.  
Fire Lord Mordred stood up and pointed, furious. "Get out! Get out of my sight right now if you know what's good for you."  
I returned my full attention to my father and glared. "That's another thing. I'm not taking orders from you anymore."  
Fire Lord Mordred was seething with rage. "You will obey me or this defiant breathe will be your last!"  
Mordred began to walk towards me, until I unsheathed my broadswords and brandished them at him. "Think again! I am going to speak my mind and you are going to listen," I snapped, furious.  
God, that felt good…  
Mordred glared hatefully at me as he sat back down.

Odette:

Elise, Alana, and I slid into bending stances, ready to fight.  
"Where is he? Where is the Fire Lord?" I hissed.  
Athera pouted at me sarcastically. "Hm, you mean I'm not good enough for you? You're hurting my feelings."  
Alana brandished her sword. "Stop wasting our time and give us the information. You're powerless right now so you're in no position to refuse."  
Elise took a threatening step forward. "And stick to the truth. I'll be able to tell if you're lying."  
"Are you sure? I'm a pretty good liar," Athera mocked and her face became completely expressionless. "I am a 400 foot tall purple platypus bear with pink horns and silver wings."  
Elise straightened after a brief pause, surprised.  
"Okay you're good, I admit it." She suddenly bended the earth underneath Athera so that it encased her in a conical shape. "But you really ought to consider telling the truth anyway."  
Athera gave a small smirk and the stone trap shattered.  
Alana, Elise, and I were once again all shocked. Athera kept smirking as she brushed some rubble off her shoulder.  
"When I left Eralith, I brought home some souvenirs," she said as two Dai Li agents dropped from the ceiling and landed in front of her. "Dai Li agents."  
I swung my staff at them, throwing out a blast of wind. The Dai Li both bended a stone wall in front them and completely nullified the attack.

Kole:

The invasion force made its way to the edge of the crater. Warriors and two tanks made their way past Cato - who was standing on the edge - and over the edge.  
"Surround the periphery! We have to secure the palace by the time the eclipse is over. Otherwise, we'll be in for the fight of our lives," Cato said.  
Cato made his way down with the rest of them. The tanks and soldiers reached the edge of the capital and made their way in. A group of firebenders lined ourselves up in one of the alleys. Haru, Tyro, and a group of earthbenders came to face them.  
"Stop! Surrender peacefully and we won't harm you," Tyro warned.  
"We'll never surrender," a soldier hissed and he stepped forward, making flailing movements with his arms, dashed forward and thrust his palm forward as if to shoot a fire ball, but all that was produced was a pathetic fizzle. "Er okay, we surrender."  
He and the other firebenders bowed down and present their hands in surrender. Dad and I finished climbing up to the edge of the crater and looked down at the Fire Nation capital as the soldiers and tanks headed to the palace.  
"There it is. The Fire Nation royal palace. We've come so far," he said.  
I patted his shoulder, trying not to get too excited. "It's not over yet."  
Both of us began to head down.

Ren:

"For so long, all I wanted was you to love me, to accept me. I thought it was my honor that I wanted but really, I was just trying to please you. You, my father, who banished me just for talking out of turn," I growled and pointed a sword at Mordred. "My father, who challenged me; a 13-year-old boy to an Agni Kai. How can you possibly justify a duel with a child?"  
Fire Lord Mordred regarded me calmly. "It was to teach you respect."  
"It was cruel! And it was wrong."  
"Then you have learned nothing."  
"No, I've learnt everything! And I had to learn it on my own. Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history and somehow, the war was our way of sharing our greatness with the rest of the world. What an amazing lie that was. The people of the world are terrified by the Fire Nation! They don't see our greatness, they hate us! And we deserve it. We've created an era of fear in the world. And if we don't want the world to destroy itself, we need to replace it with an era of peace and kindness," I said, channeling Odette a bit on that last part.  
Fire Lord Mordred laughed mockingly. "Your Uncle has gotten to you, hasn't he?"  
I closed my eyes for a second. "Yes. He has."  
I smiled, missing him and more grateful to have had him by my side more than ever.  
Mordred could only frown in disapproval.

Odette:

A stone wall exploded and Elise, Alana, and I ran forward.  
A stone structure erupted from the floor where I was standing, but I jumped away from it and jumped off one of the metal beams and flipped forward. The two Dai Li agents pulled two slabs from the ground and flung them at me, but I deflected them with two kicks.  
Elise burst through the stone behind me, creating a hole in it. She landed between the agents and bended two diagonal pillars of stone up from beneath them as she landed, pushing them towards the walls. The agents both landed of the walls feet first and both bended a pillar of stone down at Elise, who blocked the attacks by bending two stone walls up from the floor.  
Elise thrust her hands forwards and bended a stream of earth at Athera. The stream made contact with her and pushed her up into the air. She back flipped off the attack and flew back towards the throne, smirking as she landed.  
I charged forward.  
I didn't make it very far before I had to turn and stop when I heard a loud, grinding sound. A Dai Li agent slid over the side of the wall and past me and flung his self off the wall and in front of me with a pillar of earth, putting his self in front of Athera. The agent sank into the floor as he landed and bended a large, diagonal wall of stone of from the floor.  
I jumped high into the air, flipped forward, and burst through the wall feet first. I landed behind the Dai Li agent, popped him into the air as I landed with one small pillar of stone, and knocked him away with a larger one, knocking the agent out of the fight. I spun my staff above my head, letting go of it as I turned forward, wound up, and shot a powerful blast of air with one hand at Athera.  
Athera grabbed on to the arms of the throne and cartwheeled away just before the throne was completely destroyed by the air blast. I dashed to where Athera was and swung my staff as her, bending out a blade of air. Athera ran between two metal beams and jumped over the blade of air and at the beam, then flipped off that one back towards the beam behind her. She landed on the side of the beam just before springing off it as another blade of air barely missed her. She barrel rolled and did the splits as she landed on the ground. She briefly shot a smug look at be just before she ran off, me chasing after.  
Athera ran behind the metal beams and jumped onto and jumped off a beam just as I sent another blade of air at her. She continued running forward and hopped from the wall to the beams and up to one of the stone beams the Dai Li agents had attacked Elise with. I did a small pole vault with my staff and kicked a blast of air at Athera, but missed. She slid down the stone beam and jumped off the diagonal wall Elise had created to block the attack earlier and landed on the other one before flipping off of it and landing on the floor.  
She turned to face me as Elise and I ran at her. She turned and ran towards the large stone wall. The other Dai Li agent slid down the stone beam towards the floor and Athera. The agents landed behind her and then bended a pillar up from beneath her, sending Athera into the air towards the hole in the wall that Elise had made. Alana climbed up into it and Athera flew towards her. She passed just inches above Alana's face as she ducked down. She smirked down at her while she looked back at her fearfully.  
Athera landed on the other side of the wall and ran towards the exit. Alana tried to climb back down but stopped and ducked timidly as the Dai Li agent, Elise, and I jumped over her and through the hole, one at a time. Alana dropped down and followed after. As Elise chased after Athera, I caught up to her from the side.  
"I can't pin her down. She's too quick," I said, frustrated.  
Athera ran out the doors and into the tunnels. The Dai Li agent slid out of the room and blocked the entrance with a large stone. The Dai Li agent slid over the ground and after Athera just as I burst through the stone and continue chasing them. The Dai Li agent was knocked to the side by a stone pillar ejecting out of the side of the wall. A hole opened in the side of the wall and Elise flew out of it. The agent hit the inside of the groove of one of the steel beams supporting the tunnel. He tried to attack, but Elise smashed his stone gloves into dust before grabbing both sides of the beam's grooves and pulling them in, trapping the agent.  
Elise stepped back and nodded, admiring her work.  
I ran past her and she followed while Alana caught up to us.  
"Wait!" she screamed and we slid to a stop. "Odette, Elise, stop attacking. Don't you see what she's doing? She's just playing with us. She's not even trying to win this fight!"  
"Not true, I'm giving it my all," Athera said sarcastically.  
Elise glared. "You're trying to keep us here and waste all our time!"  
Athera rolled her eyes. "Um, right. I think your friend just said that genius. And since you can't see, I should tell you I'm rolling my eyes."  
Elise seethed angrily. "I'll roll your whole head!"  
Alana grabbed her. "She's just baiting you again."  
I huffed, glaring at her hatefully. "Okay, so what do we do? Just ignore her?"  
"We don't have a choice. We just have to get out of here and find the Fire Lord on our own somehow," Alana said.  
We turned and walked away from Athera; probably the hardest thing I'd ever done in my life.  
"It's a trap. Don't say I didn't warn you," Athera called.  
Elise and I stopped and turned to Athera for a moment, but Alana kept walking, waving a hand back at her.  
Alana spread one arm wide over her head in a gesture of dismissal. "Ignore!"  
Athera spoke in a slightly bored tone. "So, Alana's your name right? My favorite prisoner used to mention you all the time."  
Alana stopped and turned around.  
"He was convinced that you were going to come rescue him. Of course, you never came and he gave up on you," Athera taunted.  
My head snapped to Alana as tears filled her eyes and she gave a furious cry of anger as she rushed at Athera.  
She hissed under her breath, her voice dripping with malice as Alana charged. "Come and get it…"  
My gaze traveled to her hand as she slipped a deadly, ornate blade from her sleeve. Elise also sensed the deception and she raised her knee, which raised a stone into the air, and shot it forward with a thrust of her hands. Athera's wrist was pinned against the wall by the stone, the blade dropping from her hand. Athera grunted in pain as she hits the wall and Alana grabbed Athera's shoulder, pushing her up again the wall, and glared into her eyes.  
"Where is Tarren?!"

Ren:

My father stared darkly at me and I returned his look unflinchingly.  
"After I leave here today, I'm going to free Uncle Ira from my prison and I'm going to beg for my forgiveness. He is the one who has been a real father to me."  
Fire Lord Mordred chuckled sarcastically at me insult. "That's just beautiful. Maybe he can pass down to you the ways of tea and failure."  
"But I've come to an even more important decision," I looked down and paused; even the thought of what I was about to say lifted a giant weight off my shoulders. "I'm going to join the Avatar. And I'm going to help her defeat you. I love her…I always have, since the first day I met her."  
Fire Lord Mordred grinned slyly. "Really? Since you're a full blown traitor now and you want me gone, why wait? I'm powerless, you've got your swords, why don't you just do it now?"  
"Because I know my own destiny. Taking you down is the Avatar's destiny," I shot back and sheathed my swords. "Goodbye."  
I walked away.  
Mordred stood. "Coward! You think you're brave enough to face me but you'll only do it during an eclipse. If you have any real courage, you'll stick around until the Sun comes out. Don't you want to know what happened to your Mother?"  
Mother…  
I stopped in front of the doors and turned around.  
Mordred grinned venomously.  
"What happened that night?" I growled.  
"My father, Fire Lord Athra, had commanded me to do the unthinkable to you, my own son. And I was going to do it. Your Mother had found out and swore she would protect you at any cost. She knew I wanted the throne and she proposed a plan. A plan in which I would become Fire Lord and your life would be spared," he said, smug as ever.  
She had left…for me? I felt my eyes water and I closed them sadly.

Odette:

Alana slammed her fist into the wall angrily. "Where's Tarren?! Answer me!"  
She glared at Athera, who's arms were pinned above her head against the wall.  
Anxious and knowing time was running out, I grabbed Alana's shoulder. "Alana, she won't talk."  
Alana hesitated, then turned back to Athera. "Where are you keeping him?!"  
Athera simply smirked silently.  
We were done for…

Ren:

Mordred sneered at me as he saw my pain. "Your Mother did vicious, treasonous things that night. She knew the consequences and accepted them. For her treason, she was banished."  
A tear streamed from my good eye as I realized something. "So she's alive."  
Mordred shrugged. "Perhaps. Now I realize that banishment is far too merciful a penalty for treason. Your penalty will be far steeper."  
Mordred suddenly stepped forward and swung his arms out, creating two arcs of electricity from the tips of his fingers. He thrust his fingers forward and fired an incredible bolt of lightning at me.  
In that moment, time slowed. Everything was suddenly easy, possible. Uncle's face flashed in my mind and his words of warning echoed through my ears.  
I reached out and caught the lightning with the tips of my fingers. I slid backward from the force of the attack, the lightning surrounding my body and making my hair stand on end. The power was amazing…I felt undefeatable, godlike. On the other hand, I was terrified. If I made one wrong move I was dead. The electricity bubbling through my body made me feel like I was going to explode.  
Keeping calm, I sank my body down and pulled my arms in as the electricity ran through my body, then thrust my other hand forward, redirecting the lightning in Mordred's direction. The bolt struck the ground where Mordred was standing, creating an explosion that knocked him against the wall and the tapestry behind him.  
Before he could even straighten up, I was gone.

Odette:

Athera's head suddenly shot up as a loud explosion rocked through the bunker.  
"Oh. Sounds like the firebending's back on."  
She kicked her leg upward and created an arc of blue fire, making Alana jump back in surprise. She thrust her foot forward and shot a fireball at Alana. She was saved from the attack by Elise, who jumped in and pushed her out of the way.  
Athera flipped up and placed her feet on the wall, straining herself to broke her arms free. She grinned as the rock trapping her there exploded in a blue flame. She sprang off the wall towards me and flipped forward. I jumped out of the way as Athera landed with a fiery heel drop where I was standing. Alana, Elise, and I all readied ourselves for another attack.  
Athera suddenly stopped fight and stood up, turning to us.  
"Dad's all the way at the end of the hall and down the secret stairway on the left. I'm sure I'll be more than happy to see you now." Athera quickly ran away down the tunnel.  
Alana stood there frozen for a moment before slapping her forehead. "I fell for it! I used up all our time."  
Elise sighed. "It's not your fault, Alana. Athera was ready for us. She had every move planned out."  
Alana hung her head, hopeless. "And now it's too late."  
"Maybe it's not too late. The eclipse is over but I can face the Fire Lord anyway," I said, knowing in my heart that that was a lie.  
Alana shook her head. "No. I don't think that's a good idea."  
I sighed. "But I'm ready! I came here with a job to do and everyone's counting on me."  
"The Fire Lord knew we were coming this time. We thought we had surprise on our side but we didn't. It just wasn't our day. What we need to do now is go help our friends," Elise argued.  
I considered before nodding my head grudgingly. "I guess you guys are right."  
Alana put a hand on my shoulder. "You'll have another chance. I know you will."

Kole:

The palace was surrounded by tanks and warriors. I laid dad against one of the tanks and we both took off our eclipse glasses.  
"What should we do, Kodah? Shouldn't something have happened by now?" Cato asked.  
"I don't know. But now that the eclipse is over I expect we're going to see some firebenders any minute."  
Cato suddenly looked up in shock and I turned to look in the same direction as five Fire Nation war balloons ascended into the air firebenders powering them.  
"My own invention. Oh this is terrible!" The Mechanist cried.  
Cash silently placed a consoling hand on his father's shoulder. Behind the war balloons ascended an enormous zeppelin. Everyone stared up at the five war balloons along with five huge zeppelins decorated with dragon motifs.  
Desperate, I turned and spotted who I was hoping to see and pointed to the sky.  
"They're back!"  
I ran forward as Emrys, carrying Odette, Alana, and Elise, flew towards us. Odette was also looking up at the balloons, her expression worried. Emrys landed and I ran up to her as Odette looked down at me uneasily.  
"It was all a trap. Athera knew we were coming and she's plotted out every move," Alana said as she and Elise jumped down from Emrys. "We just got to get to the beach as fast as we can. If we can make it to the submarines, maybe we can get away safely."  
"They've got air power, but so do I!" Odette said after a moment and snapped open her glider. "I'm going to do what I can to slow them down."  
Odette threw her glider into the air. She caught onto it and flew into the air as it looped back to her. Emrys growled and I climbed on her, not willing to let Odette out of my sight now.  
"Emrys, you and I can help too." I said.  
As Odette flew towards the zeppelins in the distance, Emrys and I followed behind.  
"Everyone, let's get back to the subs!" my sister screamed, loud enough for the troops to hear her.  
They all turned and followed Alana.

Odette:

A firebender shot two fireballs at me and I banked and rolled to avoid the attack. I then threw my glider forward, closed it, grabbed the end of it, and pierced straight through the fabric of the balloon. Air leaked from the war balloon and it went down as I glided on towards the zeppelins. Kole, in Emrys's saddle, followed behind me.  
Kole stood up and bended the water out from his flasks. With a swift rotation of his arms and body, Kole made a clean, horizontal cut through another balloon. He and Emrys flew past, and after a brief moment, the top of the war balloon fluttered away and the bottom part dropped.  
Emrys, Kole, and I flew up towards the zeppelins as countless fireballs were shot out of them. A few fireballs hit Emrys and she growled in discomfort, but her armor protected her from any serious damage. Emrys tried to fly in close, but was driven back by the force of the fire blasts. Firebenders stood on small platforms under the body of a zeppelin. They were in harnesses attached to supports above them. They shot fire blasts at Emrys as she flew right past them, Kole creating a shield of water to block the oncoming fireballs.  
"We can't keep them all back. They're too many of them!" Kole called as I glided in closer.  
"Let's join the others," I said.  
I barely dodged another fireball as Emrys and I flew over the capital and back towards the ocean.

Ren:

At the top of the Fire Nation prison, there were multiple craters in the stone wall and stairs. I ran in, taking leaping bounds as I raced into the prison, knowing time was short.  
Inside the prison, I found a guard lying on the floor. He looked up, and then winced as I ran past him. I ran down the hall and towards a doorway.  
"Uncle!" I called as I burst through.  
I froze at the sight I saw. Inside the interior of the cell, there was a huge hole in the cage, and the surrounding bars were bent outward. Warden Poon was lying on the floor, dazed. I ran in and grabbed Poon by the collar.  
"Where is my Uncle?" I snarled.  
Warden Poon looked up at me, shocked and awed. "He's gone. He busted himself out. I... I've never seen anything like it! He was like a one man army!"  
relived, I let go of Poon and made my exit.

Alana:

I ran down the slope towards the plaza, the others following behind. I stopped and looked up at the zeppelins high in the air, slowing making their way towards us. At the bottom of one of the zeppelins bomb bay doors opened up as Odette, Emrys, and Kole landed behind me.  
"Try and find cover! I think we're about to see some bombs," I said.  
Everyone huddled together as Elise bended a large slab of stone above us as large red, cylinder shaped bombs dropped from the zeppelins. The bombs impacted the stone shields protecting the invasion forces. The slab cracked and began to fall, but Elise bended two stone supports up from the ground to keep it standing. The caterpillar tanks quickly made their way down the slope as bombs went off all around them.  
The zeppelins passed over, ceasing the raid. And Odette, Elise, Kole, and I came out from under the stone and looked up at the zeppelins as they flew towards the beach.  
Kole frowned. "Why aren't they turning around to attack us again?"  
Odette gasped and her face paled. "They're headed for the beach. They're going to destroy the submarines!"  
I stiffened. "How are we all going to escape?"  
My dad looked at them blankly. "We're not."  
Those were probably the two most terrifying words I had ever head come from my father's lips.  
I nodded and swallowed thickly, adjusting my armor. "Then our only choice is to stand and fight. We have the Avatar, we could still win!"  
"Yes, with the Avatar we could still win on another day. You kids have to leave. You have to escape on Emrys together," my dad said, sadly now.  
Kole was outraged. "What? We can't leave you behind. We won't leave anyone behind."  
"You're our only chance in a long run. You and Alana have to go with Odette somewhere safe. It's the only way to keep hope alive," he said.  
"The youngest of our group should go with you. The adults will stay behind and surrender. We'll be prisoners but we'll all survive this battle," Cato said, grim but still hopeful.  
Tyro smiled slightly. "I've got some experience with the Fire Nation prisons. It's not going to be easy but we'll get by."  
"They're at the beach already!" I yelled.  
The submarines and the swampbenders fell into the shadow of a zeppelin as it passed over. The zeppelins flew overhead and began to drop more bombs. Due and Tho bended water from the ocean, swinging their arms in windmill motions to send the water into the air and intercept the bombs. The bombs exploded in midair. Hue grabbed two oncoming bombs with my seaweed arms. He tossed one away, but the other exploded, destroying the arm of the seaweed creature. Another bomb lodged itself inside the body of the creature and exploded, destroying it. The seaweed fell on top of Due and Tho. Hue, Due, and Tho stuck their heads out from the pile of steaming seaweed.  
One by one they exploded and were destroyed. A bomb fell in front of the camera and exploded. The smoke cleared and I saw the destroyed submarines, my heart sinking. They burned away as Odette and my friends looked on with despair. I shut my eyes and grudgingly accepted the turn of events.  
Elise and The Mechanist, who was carrying Cash, rose up to Emrys's back on a platform of stone that Elise was bending. Elise hopped in the saddle and The Mechanist placed Cash down in it, hugging me in goodbye.  
The Mechanist hugged Cash tightly. "Bye, son."  
Cash hugged back sadly. "Bye, Dad. I'm really proud of you."  
Elise lowered The Mechanist back to the ground. He took one last look at Cash before The Duke tried to climb onto Emrys's head. Pipsqueak helped him up.  
"I'll miss you, Pipsqueak," he said.  
Pipsqueak nodded back. "Take care, The Duke."  
Haru and Tyro hugged each other goodbye.  
Haru sighed. "I'll be back for you Dad."  
Tyro patted his son's shoulder. "If we don't escape on our own first."  
Haru put his fist into his hand and bowed respectfully to my father.  
Dad looked at my brother and I sadly. "We lost today but we've never been this close. We tasted victory and that counts for something."  
Kole was heartbroken. "We'll miss you Dad."  
Kole, Dad, and I had one last group hug.  
"Bye Dad. We won't be apart for too long this time. I promise," I said, squeezing him tightly.  
Odette was on her knees on top of Emrys's head, with Fang sitting next to her. Kole walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and I realized that she was crying silent tears that streamed down her pretty face. It was just then that I realized what a mess she was.  
Her braid had come loose and her long, dark brown hair now blew in the wind, messy and damp from sweat. Her usually clear skin was covered in dirt and scratches and her pretty pale grey eyes were dull and exhausted.  
She glanced at Kole, who smiled at her gently. She looked away and wiped her eyes before standing up and addressing the rest of the invasion force.  
"Thank you all for being so brave and so strong. I'm going to make this up to you," she vowed.  
Kole jumped into the saddle and Odette sat down. Fang climbed on to Odette's shoulder and Emrys took off.  
As we flew away into the distance, Kole and I both looked back sadly.

Athera:

The zeppelins slowly flew on as the Avatar's dragon flew into the horizon, abandoning the battle. In the gondola, the captain and I watched them fly away through a window.  
"Should we follow them, Princess?" the Captain asked.  
They were already far out of my reach…traveling to fast for our slow machine  
"No. They're too fast. It doesn't matter, they'll be back," I said, not worried in the least.

Odette:

I looked darkly back at the zeppelin as we flew away. When it became a small speck in the distance, I finally turned back to the front.  
"I know just the place for us to go where we'll be safe for a while. The Western Air Temple," I said.  
With a flick of the reins, Emrys surged forward.

Ren:

I could see Emrys flying far into the distant clouds. In my single war balloon, I followed them, keeping far enough behind for them to not notice me.  
I was in the balloon's basket, holding on to the ropes and staring off at them in determination and praying they would hear me out.  
I'm coming Odette...


	12. Chapter 12: The Western Air Temple

Odette:

Emrys, still in her armor, and the rest of our defeated group walked slowly on a rocky and barren land with the sun blazing above our heads. Elise walked with her head down, trudging along with Haru and Alana walking behind her with their eyes closed.  
I walking tiredly with Fang resting on Emrys, a similar expression on his face. Cash wheeled his wheelchair with The Duke followed behind him. Both of them were hanging their heads down dejectedly. Kole walked beside his sister with the same expression as the rest of us.  
Kole sighed. "This is humiliating."  
"Do you mean getting thoroughly spanked by the Fire Nation, or having to walk all the way to the Western Air Temple?" Alana asked and Kole turned his head towards her.  
Kole turned his head back. "Both."  
"Sorry guys," I said and stretched my hand out and affectionately scratched the area under Emrys's eye. "But Emrys gets tired carrying all these people."  
It was silent for a moment as we continued walking, the heat almost unbearable.  
"I wonder how the rest of the troops are," Cash said.  
"They're probably on their way to a prison. Seems like my dad just got out, now he's going back in," Haru said.  
The Duke sniffled. "I miss Pipsqueak."  
"I miss not having blisters on my feet," Alana said sarcastically.  
I was staring at the rocky ground when Elise suddenly looked up with a relieved expression on her face. "Hey, we're here. I can feel it."  
I looked up as well and realized we had stopped near the edge of a cliff.  
Huh, we had been closer than I'd originally thought.  
The others looked out over the empty space filled with white mist in between the cliff we were standing on and the next.  
"Uh, I think your feet need their eyes checked," Kole said.  
"No, she's right," I said and Alana looked up at me, stunned. "We are here."  
Alana looked around and brought up both her arms to show that she couldn't see anything.  
"Wow," Elise said, awed. "It's amazing."  
It most certainly was.

Ren:

I looked around me, taking notice in a multi-tiered structure of an upside down pagoda. More upside down pagodas of the Western Air Temple stretched out before me, with a couple of statues seemingly fixed into the cliffs.  
I dropped a rope down and lowered it in front of a pagoda. I then slowly slid down the rope with my hands. I turned around slightly and looked behind me, gauging my distance. I slid in front of a large statue of a female airbender as stared at it for a moment before I continued to make my descent.  
When I came to three statues, I stopped and swung myself on the rope, gaining momentum with each arc. When I was sure I could made the distance, I jumped off at the fourth swing. I landed safely on an area, balancing myself with a hand on the floor. I straightened up and looked around.  
Recalling the last time I had been here, I let myself be swept away by my memories…  
…my memory started on a cliff, the various natural structures peeking through the mist of the temple.  
"What a stunning view," Uncle said.  
He was standing behind me, both of us still in out Fire Nation uniforms. This had been recently after my banishment, only a few months actually. I had a large, white bandage over the scarred side of my face with a cloth strap secured in place.  
"The only view I'm interested in seeing," I said bitterly as Uncle's expression changed into sadness, "is the Avatar in chains."  
Uncle took a step towards me. "You know, the Avatar hasn't been seen for a 100 years. The chances of finding me here are very slim."  
I ignored him.  
"First, we'll check each of the air temples." I took a few steps forward, looking around. "Then we'll scour the world, searching even the most remote locations until we find me."  
Uncle looked on, concerned. "Prince Ren, it's only been a week since your banishment. You should take some time to heal and rest."  
I turned around and raised my voice. "What else would I expect to hear from the laziest man in the Fire Nation?"  
Uncle just looked at me with a slightly appalled face before he looked down and sighed.  
"The only way to regain my honor is to find the Avatar. So I will," I growled.  
Uncle glanced up at me, turned, and walked away.  
Back in the present day, I closed my eyes.  
Ashamed of my own self, I groaned and rubbed my nose bridge with my fingers.  
I had made such a huge mess of things…with both Odette and my Uncle. I had to make things right, starting with Odette, and I had to do it as soon as possible.  
Right one cue, Emrys growled and I nearly leaped out of my skin. I looked towards my left, gasping in surprise and ran off, taking cover from behind a pillar as Emrys flew overhead. I crouched down and hid like the coward I was.  
I needed to face her, but I just wasn't ready yet. She probably hated me so much right now…and that thought hurt me more than anything.  
I looked on from behind the pillar, just seeing her long brown her hair. When she was gone, again, I proceeded to stand up and run away up a flight of stairs.

Odette:

We stopped near an hour glass shaped fountain.  
When we got off, Cash and The Duke looked up in wonder.  
"It's so different from the Northern Air Temple," Cash said, his eyes trailing to a flight of stairs linking to a bridge. "I wonder if there are any secret rooms."  
Haru ran over and waved a hand, beckoning the others to join him. "Let's go check it out."  
The Duke and Cash enthusiastically made their way over. Since I hadn't been here in so long, I decided to join them. I excitedly ran after them but was quickly stopped by Kole who blocked me with my staff.  
"You guys go…" Kole said as I caught my glider and Kole laid a hand on my shoulder. "I think we need to talk about some things."  
I looked at the bridge as Haru and The Duke helped Cash onto it. As Haru set Cash's wheelchair down, Cash wheeled off rapidly.  
"I'll race you, Duke," Haru said.  
The Duke glared at him, annoyed. "I told you, it's 'The Duke.'"  
Haru and The Duke proceeded to run after Cash as I watched them go, disappointed.  
Lucky…  
"Why can't I go?" I asked, annoyed.  
Kole looked back at me, serious. "We need to decide what we're gonna do now. And since you're the Avatar, maybe you should be a part of this."  
I walked over to a flat, slightly broken down stone bench and leaned my staff against it and sat down, crossing my arms grouchily.  
"Fair enough. So, what's the new plan?" I said.  
Alana, Elise and Kole also sat on stone benches except for Elise who was sitting on a rather tall stone column.  
"Well, if you ask me, the new plan is the old plan. You just need to master all four elements, and confront the Fire Lord before the comet comes," Alana suggested brightly.  
I rolled my eyes sarcastically.  
"Oh, yeah, that's great," I groaned. I picked up a pebble and tossed it into the air nonchalantly. "No problem, I'll just do that."  
As I continued to fidget nervously, I laid the pebble on the bench and flicked it away.  
"Odette, no one said it's gonna be easy," Kole said.  
I ignored him, continuing my little tantrum. "Well, it's not even gonna be possible. Where am I supposed to get a firebending teacher?"  
Kole considered for a moment, deep in thought. "We could look for Aries."  
"Yeah right," I snorted and laid down on the bench without a care. "Like we'll ever run into Aries again."  
Elise was confused and folded her arms irritably. Who's - Oh, never mind. If it's important, I'll find out."  
I stood up with my glider in hand.  
"Oh well, guess we can't come up with anybody. Why don't we just take a nice tour around the temple?" I said, jumping over Alana's head and running off with Fang close behind me.  
Trying to get away from them as fast as possible, I unfolded my glider and leaped off the cliff, diving into the mist and flying upwards.  
There was no one who would be able to help me now…

Ren:

I stood smiling in a forested area, safe and well hidden.  
"Hello," I said, trying to be friendly, and raised an arm in greeting. "Ren here. But I guess you probably already know me... sort of."  
I rubbed my hand against the back of my head nervously.  
"Uh...so, the thing is," I put my arm down and looked to the side hesitantly. "I have a lot of firebending experience, and I'm considered to be pretty good at it," I placed my hand on my chest in pride and continued smiling. "Well, you've seen me... you know, when I was attacking you?"  
My eyes widened at my verbal mistake.  
"Uh, yeah...I guess," I said and placed my fingers against my forehead in embarrassment. "I should apologize for that. But anyway," I waved an arm to the side dismissively. "I'm good now."  
I clenched both fists and placed one on my chest while the other arm was raised.  
"I mean, I thought I was good before, but now I realize I was bad." I got visibly uncomfortable and dropped my arms into a slouch. "Ugh, but anyway... I think it's time I joined your group, and taught the Avatar firebending."  
I straightened up with a sincere expression on my face.  
I stared at the thing I was talking to, a badger frog sitting on a large log. The tarp from my war balloon was hanging in the background, being used as a form of shelter. The badger frog stared blankly back as me with big yellow eyes as it croaked.  
"Well, what's your answer?!" I snapped, frustrated.  
The frog ribbited and hopped on my head before jumping off into the forest. I slouched dejectedly.  
"Yeah, that's what I'd say too," I sighed.  
I was pathetic….  
I raised my arm to my head in despair. "How am I supposed to convince these people I'm on their side? What would Uncle do?"  
Thinking, I proceeded to imitate Uncle's voice and pretended to hold an imaginary beard on my chin as I started pacing.  
"Ren, you have to look within yourself, to save yourself from your other self. Only then will your true self reveal itself," I said. I thought through that then sighed and pressed a hand to my forehead. "Even when I'm talking for him, I can't figure out what he means. What would Athera do?"  
I raised the pitch of my voice and channeled my sister.  
I maneuvered my body into a position I thought was feminine and folded my arms arrogantly. "Listen, Avatar, I can join your group or I can do something unspeakably horrible to you and your friends. Your choice."  
I stopped and sat down, frustrated. "I guess I'm not that good at impersonations."  
The badger frog leaped in front of me and croaked.  
I was a dead man.

Kole:

Emrys flew underneath the upside down pagodas. Near the spires, Emrys and Odette flew around. In the saddle, Elise and I were inside it while Alana steered towards a gliding Odette.  
"Odette, can we talk about you learning firebending now?" I called to her.  
Odette feigned being deaf. "What? The wind is too loud in my ears. Check out this loop."  
I glared at her through the mist as Odette maneuvered her glider into a loop and Fang barked at her excitedly.  
Alana strained her voice against the rushing wind as Emrys continued to fly behind Odette. "Odette, I think we should be making some plans about our future."  
Odette sighed and headed back down. At the hour glass fountain, Odette and Emrys landed on the platform.  
"Ok, we can do that while I show you the giant Pai Sho table," Odette said excitedly as the remainder of us descended from Emrys behind her. "Oh, you're gonna love the all-day echo chamber."  
Elise turned serious. "I think that'll have to wait."  
We all looked at her quickly. She sighed and pointed behind as Emrys she moved aside to reveal an all too familiar shadow.  
The shadow belonged to Ren.  
Our expression - except for Elise's - changed from surprise to anger.  
What did he think he was doing here! If he thought he was taking Odette away from me again he'd have another thing coming!  
Hello," he said and raised his arm up in greeting. "Ren here."

Odette:

I gasped, my eyes flying wide with disbelief.  
I wasn't seeing this…I couldn't be seeing this. I had been longing for so long now to see him again…for just a moment. And now that he was actually here I couldn't seem to get my head around it. His hair had grown out again, shaggy and slightly messy as always…he looked good.  
On the other hand, I had to snap out of it. My friends had no idea how I felt about him still and I wasn't even sure of how he felt either. My group would think I had lost my mind and in order to keep the situation under control I knew I had to just go with them.  
Regrettably, I raised my staff in an attacking position - unsure as the rest of group did the same as well.  
"Hey, I heard you guys flying around down there, so I just thought I'd wait for you here," he said and raised his shoulders, clearly uncomfortable.  
Emrys came over and growled at Ren as he took a cautious step backwards and covered his face with his arms. Emrys then proceeded to lick his back.  
Surprised, I lowered my staff slightly and looked at Ren as Emrys licked his face affectionately. Ren wiped off the slobber with his arm.  
"I know you must be surprised to see me here," he said as my friends continued to wear hostile expressions on their faces.  
Alana snorted. "Not really, since you've followed us all over the world."  
Ren fidgeted, visibly uncomfortable. "Right...Well, uh…anyway, what I wanted to tell you about is that I've changed, and I uh, I'm good now. And, well, I think I should join your group. Oh, and I can teach firebending...to you."  
When he looked at me, his entire expression changed. His eyes searched my face and the shadow of a small but warm smile lit his lips. His expression and eyes said the things that he couldn't…that he was sorry, that he did love me. I realized that he had changed…and he did really feel the same way I felt. I know that I had thought that a few times before but this was real…genuine, there was no confusion in his eyes. The only other time he had looked at me like that before had been in Eralith. But instead of running to him like I wanted to more than anything….I couldn't. My friends would hate me so much; I just couldn't do that to them right now with everything else that was going on.  
I lowered my staff further and Kole looked on in disbelief.  
"See, I uh…" Ren stuttered.  
Elise interrupted him while Alana remained dumbfounded. "You want to what now?!"  
Alana raised her fist in preparation for a fight.  
"You can't possibly think that any of us would trust you, can you? I mean, how stupid do you think we are?" Kole snarled, glaring hatefully at Ren.  
"Yeah, all you've ever done is try to hunt us down and capture Odette," Alana spat.  
Ren turned his warm gaze from me and snapped his head back to the others, defensive. "I've done some good things. I mean, I could've stolen your dragon in Eralith, but I set him free. That's something."  
He took a few steps forward and thrust both arms out towards Emrys to prove his point.  
Emrys licked Ren back to his surprise.  
"Emrys does seem to like him," Elise commented as the siblings continued to look angrily towards Ren.  
"He probably just covered himself in honey or something so that Emrys would lick him. I'm not buying it," Alana snapped, swiping her arm aside in a "No" gesture.  
"I can understand why you wouldn't trust me, and I know I've made some mistakes in the past," Ren said, looking to the side in shame.  
"Like when you attacked our village?" Alana growled.  
"Or when you stole my mother's necklace and used it to track us down and capture us?" Kole took a step forward with his fists clenched.  
"Look, I admit I've done some awful things," Ren said, desperate. He lowered his head down and pressed a palm against his temple. "I was wrong to try to capture you, and I'm sorry that I attacked the Water Tribe. And I never should've sent that Fire Nation assassin after you. I'm gonna try to stop him."  
Alana, Kole, and Elise's eyes widened in alarm while I winced. This was not going to end well…  
Alana interrupted, furious as she unsheathed her boomerang and held it towards Ren. "Wait, you sent Combustion Man after us?"  
I looked back to a slightly panicking Ren, wishing I could do something, anything to help him. "Well, that's not his name, but…"  
"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to insult your friend," Alana hissed, still in a defensive position.  
Ren raised his voice hurriedly. "He's not my friend!"  
Elise jabbed a finger at him. "That guy locked me and Kole in jail and tried to blow us all up."  
Ren closed his eyes and opened them as he angled his head diagonally. He looked right at me and I felt my pulse quicken and breath catch.  
"Why aren't you saying anything? You once said you thought we could be friends," he said…more like begged. He didn't have to say it for me to know that there was a 'and more…' at the end of that sentence. I looked down to the side, pondering, wanting to say yes and knowing it would just make things worse for the both us.  
"Odette…You know I have good in me."  
I looked towards the rest of the gang, begging them to see how much I needed him, how much he needed me. Alana shook her head at me and Kole looked like he was ready to kill Ren. Because of them, there was no way I could do this….  
I looked back at Ren, my heart throbbing painfully.  
"There's no way we can trust you after everything you've done," I said, putting on a blank expression as Ren listened intently. "We'll never let you join us."  
Ren's expression changed to surprise and absolute hurt. He looked at me as if I had shot him or something. It killed me inside to see him in so much pain…and knowing that I had caused it made it worse.  
Kole took a threatening step forward. "You need to get out of here, now."  
Ren closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and staring back at our group with determination. He raised both arms in frustration and took a few steps towards us. "I'm trying to explain that I'm not that person anymore."  
He continued to walk towards us - toward me - but Alana took a step forward and thrust her boomerang out as a warning. Ren took a step back.  
"Either you leave, or we attack," she said.  
Ren looked at her, aghast.  
"If you won't accept me as a friend," he said in defeat as he kneeled down with his head bowed. "Then maybe you'll take me as a prisoner."  
He raised both arms out as if he were holding an offering but his fists were clenched. I shook my head, my face paling at the thought.  
Kole was angry by this point. "No, we won't!"  
He proceeded to draw water from his water skin and waterbended it towards Ren. He got blown backwards forcefully by the small wave of water. He laid facedown on the ground in a puddle of water, sopping wet and miserable.  
"Get out of here," Kole hissed as Ren rolled himself onto his back. "And don't come back. And if we ever see you again...Well, we'd better not see you again!"  
Shocked with water dripping from his hair, he closed his eyes in defeat. Ren stood up and walked away from us. The sun was starting to set as the inside of the temple glowed slightly orange.  
As he walked away, I turned my back to the others, hiding the tears that came to my eyes as I looked down sadly.  
I'm sorry…

Ren:

At the edge of the cliff, I paced back and forth, my hands up on my head.  
"Argh, I can't believe how stupid I am," I groaned, thrusting both arms outwards. "I mean, what was I thinking?" I laid a hand on my forehead as my expression turned into sheer despair and utter horror. "Telling them I sent an assassin after them? Why didn't I just say Athera did that? They would've believed that. Stupid!"  
I brought my hand to my forehead again.  
I couldn't believe what had happened. Odette's face kept burning in my mind. I could tell she was happy to see me…that she had already forgiven me which was something I did not deserve. But she was scared, she didn't trust me, and I did deserve that.  
The badger frog I had talked to earlier was sitting on the log, staring at me. It croaked and I slouched forward, groaning. I then kneeled on the ground and sighed in frustration. Plus, I knew her decision was mostly swayed by her friends who hated my guts and probably wished I would just burst into flames already. So…if I got her friends to trust me, win them over…I could get her back.  
Time for plan B.

Odette:

We stood near the doors of a chamber, around the hourglass shaped fountain.  
"Why would he try to fool us like that?" Kole seethed and started walking into the chamber.  
Alana shrugged. "Obviously, he wants to lead us into some kind of trap."  
I didn't say anything, keeping my mouth shut because I knew I would say something and get caught. I wanted to defend Ren…but I just couldn't, they wouldn't understand.  
"This is just like when Odette and him were in prison together in Eralith," Kole growled as the siblings each held a sleeping bag while I held a jar. I regretted telling him that story now…"He starts talking about  
his mother, and making it seem like he's an actual human being with feelings."  
"He wants you to trust him and feel sorry for him, so you let your guard down, then he strikes," Alana said and punched her fist out.  
"The thing is, it worked," Kole said and kneeled and set the sleeping bag down. "Odette, you said you did feel sorry for him. You felt like he was really confused and hurt. But obviously when the time came, he made his choice, and we paid the price."  
I bristled. Kole knew nothing of what had happened to us down in those catacombs. He had no right to talk about it like he was the one who was there instead of me.  
Kole turned angrily. "We can't trust him."  
Maybe it was time to tell them the truth…I sighed. "I kind of have a confession to make."  
Kole turned towards me and gave me a critical look. I chickened out.  
Okay never mind, scratch telling the truth and just say something else…give them a half truth.  
"Remember when you two were sick and I got captured by Drake?" I asked, turning my body slightly so I didn't have to face them slightly.  
Alana was outraged.  
"And you made us suck on frozen frogs? How could I forget?" She threw down her sleeping bag. "I had a wart on the flap that hangs down from the back of my throat for a month!"  
She took a step towards me and opened her mouth and pointed a finger towards it. Her uvula appeared normal to me.  
"Alana," Kole said, visibly annoyed. "I looked at it and told you there was nothing there."  
"I could feel it! It's my throatal flap," she argued.  
The siblings turned back to me and I shook my head, getting back to the point. "Anyway, when Zhao had me chained up, it was Ren who came in and got me out. He risked his life to save me."  
Kole stepped forward and thrust his arm to the side. "No way, I'm sure he only did it so he could capture you himself."  
Ugh!  
"Yeah," Alana stepped towards me. "Face it Odette. You're nothing but a big prize to me."  
Ouch…that hurt. I knew it wasn't true though so I just brushed it off. Apparently these two were not going to change their minds on this.  
"You're probably right," I said, trying to hide my sadness.  
Kole punched his fist down into his hand. "And what was all that crazy stuff about setting Emrys free?" He crossed his arms once more. "What a liar."  
"Actually, he wasn't lying," Elise said and we looked over to see her leaning nonchalantly against the door.  
Thank you Elise!  
"Oh, hooray." Alana threw her arms up sarcastically and then brought her hands to her cheek and put on a mocking friendly face. "In a lifetime of evil, at least he didn't add animal cruelty to the list."  
She brought her hands down and looked back at Elise angrily.  
"I'm just saying that considering his messed-up family, and how he was raised, he could've turned out a lot worse," Elise said with an empathetic expression.  
"You're right," Kole said and thrust his arms down as he looked towards her, sarcastic. "Elise, let's go find him and give him a medal. The "not as much of a jerk as you could have been" award."  
"All I know is that while he was talking to us, he was sincere. Maybe you're all just letting your hurt feelings keep you from thinking clearly," she snapped and smiled slightly at her. The other two may have judged me and thought I had lost my mind if they knew the truth, but Elise would stick by me, no matter what.  
Kole stood his ground. "Easy for you to say, you weren't there when he had us attacked by pirates."  
Alana clenched her fist. "Or when he burned down Kyoshi Island."  
"Or when he tried to capture Odette at the fire temple," Kole said again. I glared at him briefly; I wondered if it was his jealousy that was clouding his judgment of Ren. I mean seriously…he hadn't been threatening when he'd come to talk to us. Couldn't they see he was sincere?  
Of course not. They only saw what they wanted to see…an enemy, someone to blame.  
"Why would you even try to defend me?" Kole snapped and brought his hands up and threw them down rapidly in hot anger.  
"Because Kole, you're all ignoring one crucial fact." Elise marched over and jabbed a finger on my chest repeatedly to prove her point. "Odette needs a firebending teacher. We can't think of a single person in the world to do the job. Now one shows up on a silver platter, and you won't even think about it?"  
At least someone said it.  
Slightly remorseful, Kole thought about her words and looked towards me, Elise baring her teeth in anger.  
What I'd thought before still stood true. They would never accept Ren…and so I couldn't do that to them.  
"I'm not having Ren as my teacher," I said sternly, hiding my pain again as I walked off and Elise's expression changed to surprise. I walked to an area behind Kole with my back towards them while he nodded in approval.  
"You're darn right you're not, buddy," Alana said, pleased.  
"Well," Kole crossed his arms. "I guess that's settled."  
Elise groaned in frustration and turned her back. "I'm beginning to wonder who's really the blind one around here."  
Trust me, I know how you feel.

Ren:

In my campsite that night, I made and lit a campfire in front of my shelter.  
I was trying to sleep, but it evaded me, causing me to toss and turn uncomfortable as I worried about what I needed to do next. Eventually, I fell into a light and uneasy sleep and constantly woke up again every once in a while.  
Around midnight, leaves and twigs could be heard rustling in the background and I woke up groggily. I pushed my upper body off the ground and stared beyond the campfire.  
"Who's there?" I asked, alarmed. Maybe it was Odette and her friend, coming to kill me in my sleep. Or worse, maybe it was Athera…I swept my arm in an arc and firebended. "Stay back."  
The world around me lit up just enough for me to see Elise as she earthbended a rock pillar in front of her as a form of protection from the fire.  
"It's me!" she cried out as the fire circled around the pillar. Elise took a step back into the burning flames behind her feet. "Ow!"  
Elise threw her head back in agony and fell down. Appalled, I rubbed my eyes in disbelief and brought them down to take a good look at whom I had accidentally burned. Elise sat on the ground with the soles of her feet visibly red and raw.  
"You burned my feet!"  
Horrified at what I had done, I got off the ground and ran toward her. "I'm sorry, it was a mistake!"  
A frightened Elise used her hands to push herself back and throw a chunk of earth from the ground towards me. "Get away from me!"  
She got on her knees and crawled while earthbending chunks of earth back to me. I dodged the chunks deftly, trying to reach her. She was desperate and visibly terrified of me as she continued to crawl away. I caught up to her.  
I held my hands out in a pleading gesture. "Let me help you." Elise sent a chunk of earth back as I dodged it. "I'm sorry."  
Elise earthbended another slab of earth as I dodged it again. I laid a hand on her shoulder.  
"Get off me, get off me!" She turned around and pushed me away.  
My eyes flew wide as she thrust her palms out. Shocked, I watched as a column of earth rose and hit me square in the chest and propelled me away. I landed on my back and proceeded to sit up, my chest feeling like it had just been trampled by a herd of charging elephants.  
"I didn't know it was you," I begged, apologetic. I tried to move forward but held my side and grimaced in pain. "Come back!"  
Elise disappeared into the darkness.  
After a moment of staring at her in shock, I laid down and groaned in frustration. I brought up my hands to my head in despair, bended my knees and rolled slightly on my sides. "Why am I so bad at being good?!"  
I threw my limbs out into a star shape and relaxed.

Odette:

I walked around the large fountain at the Western Air Temple, surrounded by our group, minus Elise. A large urn full of steaming hot rice was cooking in the center of our camp. Kole took some rice out with a wooden spoon and put it in a bowl with a pair of chopsticks.  
Kole passed the bowl to The Duke. "Has anyone seen Elise?"  
Alana shrugged. "I haven't seen her since she stormed off yesterday."  
"Maybe she's just exploring the air temple. There are some pretty fun spots to practice earth bending," Haru said.  
Kole was worried. "I think we should go look for her."  
Alana waved her hand dismissively. "Oh, let her have fun with her rocks. I'm in no rush to have her yelling at us again."  
The Duke looked at Kole reassuringly. "We can go check for her."  
Cash rolled over. "Yeah, I want to ride that tunnel down to the hall of statues again. It'll work a lot better now that I fixed my brakes."  
Cash pulled his broke stick and rolled off, kicking up a cloud of dust. Cash, Haru, and The Duke left me, Alana, and Kole sitting around the urn. A loud rumble was heard and we flinched as the ground shook.  
Ren? I thought excitedly.  
We turned our heads to see a large cloud of dust. A large pile of rocks were lying beneath a newly formed hole in the wall. A few more rocks fell to the ground as Elise climbed out of the hole and slid to the floor, grunting in pain just as Kole, Alana, and I came from around a stone pillar and ran towards her.  
My excitement immediately turned to disappointment and worry.  
"Elise, what happened?" Kole asked.  
"My feet got burned."  
Kole bent down and examined Elise's feet. "Oh, no, what happened?"  
Elise glared at him, annoyed. "I just told you, my feet got burned."  
"I meant how," he replied blandly.  
Elise fidgeted. "Well, I kind of went to see Ren last night."  
We were all shocked.  
"You what!?" Kole cried.  
"Ren?" I gasped.  
"Ugh!" Alana growled.  
"I just thought he could be helpful to us. And if I talked to him, maybe we could work something out," she explained as Kole bended water out of his water skin and around Elise's feet to heal them.  
"So he attacked you?" I asked.  
Elise shrugged. "Well, he did and he didn't. It was sort of an accident."  
"But he did firebend at you?" I pressed.  
Elise sighed. "Yes."  
"See, you trusted Ren and you got burned... Literally," Alana snapped.  
Kole bended the water away and back into his water skin. "It's gonna take a while for your feet to get better. I wish I could've worked on them sooner."  
"Yeah, me too."  
Alana was furious. "Ren's clearly too dangerous to be left alone. We're gonna have to go after him."  
"I hate to go looking for a fight, but you're right. After what he did to Elise, I don't think we have a choice," I said, my heart clenching at the thought. What would I do when I was faced with that choice? I wasn't sure if I would let my friends continue to sway my decision when Ren's life was on the line.  
Alana nodded, plotting. "He's crafty, but we'll find a way to capture him."  
Alana and I took Elise's arms and lifted her up. "Maybe just invite him back here. He's already offered himself up as a prisoner once."  
"Yeah... get him to come back and say he'll be our prisoner. Then we'll jump him and really make him our prisoner. He'll never suspect it," Alana gasped.  
Kole rolled his eyes. "You are a master of surprise, Alana."  
Alana and I carried Elise off and Kole followed us. We took her to the edge of the fountain water and set Elise down on it, letting her dip her feet in the water.  
"Ahh, that's the stuff. Now I know how the rest of you guys feel. Not being able to see with your feet stinks," she sighed.  
I smiled slightly at her and walked away, my smile dropping immediately as my thoughts returned to Ren. As I carried a towel over to Kole, I let my mind wander, missing him more than I ever had before. If my friends could just look past all the bad things people had made him do…things that he'd convinced his self to do…things would be so much better.  
Suddenly a beam hit the ledge above the fountain and exploding. Alana, Kole, Elise and I shielding ourselves the falling rock.  
Oh great, just what we needed right now.  
Alana and I picked up Elise to take her away, but stopped when we heard Ren's voice.  
"Stop!"  
My head snapped up in disbelief and delight to see my prince walking towards Combustion Man as he stood back up from apparently being knocked over.  
"I don't want you hunting the Avatar anymore," Ren hissed.  
I continued looking up with shock as I helped Alana carry Elise. Ren stood in front of Combustion man, arms spread out to block him.  
"The mission is off. I'm ordering you to stop!" he yelled.  
Combustion Man shoved Ren out of the way and fired another blast at the top of the fountain, destroying it. Alana, Kole, Elise, and I took duck behind the ledge, covering our heads. Ren ran towards him, pulling his hand back and surrounding it in flames.  
"If you keep attacking, I won't pay you!" Combustion Man stopped Ren in his tracks by grabbing him by the shirt. Ren threw his fireball, but missed and it hit the ground. "All right, I'll pay you double to stop!"  
Desperate, Ren swung his arms down, making Combustion Man let go. He turned and executed a shot jumping sidekick just as Combustion Man fired another shot, knocking his aim off and knocking Ren away.  
At the edge of the fountain water, I looked at the incoming blast with fright and ducked my head. The blast of energy traveled down past the ledge where the fountain was and exploded as it made contact with an upside down pagoda below it.  
Ren landed on his hands and feet and turned around, a look of shock on his face as Combustion Man turned on him. Combustion Man inhaled and fired a blast at him. Ren created a shield of fire and the blast hit it and exploded. The blast pushed him across the floor and my eyes followed the smoke, my heart beating in terror. It passed the edge of the ledge, leaving no sign of Ren.  
"NO!" I screamed a bloodcurdling scream, tears springing to my eyes. The awful pain, deep inside my chest was all I could feel. It felt like my heart was being squeezed and smothered to death, like a weight rested on my chest, refusing to accept precious oxygen. He was gone, and he'd tried to save me. He was good…he'd tried to tell me. But I had been pressured into turning him away. I wanted to take my pain away, I wanted him to be beside me again. Maybe I could just… .  
I surged forward, desperate to either reach or join him by Alana grabbed me and yanked me back, snapping my focus back into place.  
"What are you doing!" she yelled at me and I shook my head, fighting back tears.  
Combustion Man faced a small crater in the floor and the smoke that was dissipating before turning back to us.  
I stood up from behind the fountain pool and ran to the side. I did a spinning back kick, airbending and kicking up the dust around him, then leaping straight up just as a blast from Combustion Man exploded beneath me. He was going to die for taking Ren away from me. And I would not be merciful about it…I would tear him skin from muscle, muscle from bone, then slowly limb by limb.  
I spun in mid air, airbending a tornado and kicking it at Combustion Man. Combustion Man leaped over the tornado and fired another blast as he descended. I landed and quickly back flipped away from the blast, landing next to Kole and Alana.  
Combustion Man fell, his metal, clawed hand catching on a small ledge and broke it, slowing his fall. He landed on a new ledge and rolled, firing a blast just as he stopped. Kole and I shielded ourselves as the blast hit the fountain water, sending rock fragments flying and citing my face slightly. Kole ran forward and bended the water from the pool.  
He bended a huge wave up between us and Combustion Man. As he descended from jumping, he brought his arms down and crossed them, giving a battle cry. The wave matched his arm movements and icicles flew in both directions. Combustion Man brought his metal arm over his face and lifted his metal leg to shield him from the attack. The icicles broke against him. Combustion Man flung his arms down to shake off the ice shards and stepped forward, an angry frown on his face.  
Our group all hid behind the large stone pillar, out of Combustion Man's view before he had a chance to look up again. There's was the sound of another blast, and I turned my head to the side as the beam of energy hit a different pillar and exploded, destroying it. Our group raised our arms to protect ourselves from any flying debris while Elise sat on the ground.  
"He's going to blast this whole place right off the cliff side," she cried urgently.  
Kole peeked out from behind the pillar, then pulled back as another blast exploded.  
"I can't step out to waterbend at him without getting blown up. And I can't get a good enough angle on him from down here," he said.  
Alana thought for a moment, then came up with an idea. "I know how to get an angle on him."  
Alana gently pushed Kole aside and pulled out her boomerang. She pressed her back against the pillar and peeked out as another blast exploded on the ground. Alana looked around the pillar as smoke billowed past. She watched the two blasts of energy shoot out from behind a stone pillar and explode on the ground and raised her boomerang towards the source of the blasts and measured their trajectory. She figured out the right angles and raised his boomerang.  
"All right buddy, don't fail me now."  
Alana threw the boomerang and it flew through the air and curved behind a stone pillar. We looked out just as Combustion Man inhaled for another blast. He turned at the sound of the boomerang and it hit his head, right on his freaky eyes tattoo and was knocked down by it. Alana, grinning happily, ran out from behind the pillar, followed by the rest of our group. As the boomerang flew back to Alana, she jumped and caught the boomerang triumphantly.  
"Yeah, boomerang!"  
She and Kole looked up smiling, but quickly frowned. Combustion Man was standing back up and putting a hand to his forehead dizzily. Alana looked at her boomerang disappointedly.  
"Aw, boomerang…"  
Our group started to run back towards the stone pillar we were hiding behind. Combustion Man swayed and reared his head back for another blast. He inhaled and tried to fire a blast of energy and sparks flew from his forehead as small explosions erupted from his head. He puts a hand over his forehead as a massive explosion destroyed the upside down pagoda he was standing on. Out of the smoke and debris was a glint of light, and Combustion Man's metal, clawed arm flew towards us as the structure fell into the misty chasm below.  
Alana, Kole, and I looked down in shock and the three of us stared at each other, speechless. By the large metal doors behind the fountain, Haru and Cash peeked out from behind one of the doors, perplexed, as The Duke also peeked out.  
Suddenly we heard the noise of scrabbling and rocks falling and Alana, Kole, and I looked upward and I saw probably one of the happiest sights in my life.  
Ren was climbing up the vine from earlier. Air whooshed back into my lungs and I was dizzy with relief as he reached the ledge and pulled his self up. He stayed there for a moment, catching his breath before he began descending towards us. As he walked, he never took his eyes off me, and I never took mine away from him.  
By the time he reached us, I knew it was time for me to make my decision, and my friends were just going to have to deal with it.  
Ren walked towards our group as we faced him. The rest of us stood while Elise sat on a large rock.  
I hung my head down, ashamed of myself for not being able to stand up to my stubborn friends and making both of us miserable because of it.  
"I can't believe I'm saying this... but thanks Ren," I said.  
Alana was offended and gestured proudly. "Hey, and what about me? I did the boomerang thing."  
Ren walked towards us, his eyes only on me. "Listen, I know I didn't explain myself very well yesterday. I've been through a lot in the past few years, and it's been hard. But I'm realizing that I had to go through all those things to learn the truth. I thought I had lost my honor, and that somehow my father could return it to me. But I know now that no one can give you your honor. It's something you earn for yourself, by choosing to do what's right. All I want now is to play my part in ending this war. And I know my destiny is to help you restore balance to the world."  
He looked up at me and his warm eyes were scared, unsure, but full of love and longing at the same time. "Odette…I am so sorry for everything that I have done to you, and I need you to understand. I miss you when I'm not with you...when I'm not with you all I do is think about you...when I think about you I just want to be with you...and when I'm with you it's like all of my dreams have come true. I love you, I should have realized it sooner but I was afraid…and…"  
My expression softened and I walked over to him. He watched me carefully as I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly.  
"I forgive you," I murmured as he hugged me back, his heart beating rapidly. "You deserve a second chance, Ren. Don't be afraid."  
Alana and Kole and Elise stared at us with their mouths open…Kole with a murderous glare on his face but I found that I was able to ignore him easily.  
"I just want to know one thing," Ren whispered, and he leaned in close. Closer, in fact, closer than the Fire Prince had ever been to me. So close I could smell, almost taste, his breath. I wanted to scream for him to get away as I felt the presence of my shocked friends behind me, and yet, no, because I knew this was the right choice…he was the one. He was intoxicating and dangerous, and I would never get enough of him.  
"If this is my second chance," he muttered, his nose touching mine now. "What did I do to lose my first?"  
And then he closed the gap and I learned to breathe.  
In my mind, Kole was a small raindrop next to Ren's raging waterfall. When Kole had kissed me, he had been timid and careful. Ren was the exact opposite. He kissed me as if it were the first and last time. It was full of love, passion, desire, regret, and everything else that made him him. Kole tried to balance me and hold me back but Ren always matched me step for step and even challenged me sometimes. We both pushed each other to do better, to be better. We didn't put out each others fires; we fueled them. When we were together we were a raging inferno that could not be stopped, a force to be reckoned with. I knew I had made the right choice. Ren was my true other half…Kole was not.  
His lips we're surprisingly warm and velvet soft. They felt amazing and special, pressed to mine. I responded immediately, his arms enfolding me, pulling me to him, my palms resting against his warm chest, where I could feel his steady breathing and his throbbing heart beat. Our lips moved familiarly against each other for a long moment. A long, sweet, painless moment in our hectic lives.  
When it was over, I pulled away from him.  
Ren wet his lips and whispered, "I promise you. I'm not going anywhere. I'm here to stay."  
"For what? A few da-"  
"Forever," he said fiercely, hugging me tightly to him. I felt my heart soften at his words. Ren and I together…forever. I quite liked the idea of that.  
Someone cleared their throat behind us and I felt my eyes widened in shock as I remembered the others. He smiled slightly, gave m waist a gentle squeeze and stepped forward.  
Ren looked to Elise, who was smirking at us widely.  
"I'm sorry for what I did to you," he said sincerely and bowed to Elise. "It was an accident. Fire can be dangerous and wild. So as a firebender, I need to be more careful and control my bending so I don't hurt people unintentionally."  
My warm expression changed to one of surprise and realization. I looked down in thought for a second before looking back up to Ren.  
"I think you are supposed to be my firebending teacher. When I first tried to learn firebending, I burned Kole. And after that, I never wanted to firebend again. But now I know you understand how easy it is to hurt the people you love," I winked and bowed to Ren. "I'd like you to teach me."  
He smiled warmly and bowed back to me.  
"Thank you. I'm so happy you've accepted me into your group," he said, reaching out for me for another hug.  
I took a step back and held out my hands. I winced slightly as I saw pain and worry flash across his face as I rejected him.  
"Not so fast. I still have to ask my friends if it's ok with them," I said and he nodded, hearing the double meaning in my words. I wanted to be with him, but he knew that this would never work if the others didn't accept my decision; they were too big a part in my life to be ignored. If there was any other way to avoid this and we could just be with each other, I would take it in a heartbeat. "Elise, you're the one that Ren burned. What do you think?"  
Elise was quiet for a second. "Go ahead and let him join. It'll give me plenty of time to get back at him for burning my feet."  
I breathed in relief and turned to the next person. "Alana?"  
Alana closed her eyes and hung her head a second, then shrugged. "Hey, all I want is to defeat The Fire Lord. If you think this is the way to do it, then I'm all for it. Besides obviously there's something going on between you two…you supported me with Falcon and Tarren, now it's my turn to support you."  
Relieved, I nodded to Alana gratefully and turned to Kole.  
I gulped nervously. This was the one I was most worried about. I knew how Kole felt, and it was entirely possible that he would let his jealousy get in the way and turn Ren away.  
"Kole?"  
I begged him with my eyes, putting all I had into the look and mouthed the word "please" desperately.  
Kole looked at Ren and frowned. Everything between us could fall apart because Kole.  
Ren knew this as well as I did as he waited anxiously for the answer, beads of sweat rolling down his cheek. Kole closed his eyes for a long while, then looked to me, his eyes swimming with pain.  
"I'll go along with whatever you think is right," he said.  
I smiled at Kole, and could have fallen over with relief. I ran to Ren and he swept me up into his arms, lifting me off the floor so he stood straight and hugged me to his chest tightly, relieved. We could finally be together…this was really happening, things were going to finally fall into place.  
Ren set me down and kissed me again before turning to the others excitedly. "I won't let you down, I promise."  
The rest of the group turned and walked away, Alana carrying Elise. Ren smiled as he watched them leave.  
"This is not going to be fun to explain," I mumbled as I watched them.  
Ren frowned and hugged me closer as he understood what I was talking about. "We could always just leave…run away…I do own an island."  
I laughed leaned up and kissed his cheek before walking away and following the others past the metal doors, leaving him to get his things.  
As soon as he was gone…that was when things got awkward…  
The hardest thing for me was admitting my relationship with Ren to Kole. It shouldn't have been so hard for me, I realized, except for the fact that it was confessing that I had lied, confessing that I had broken his trust, and confessing that in spite of everything, I had fallen in love with the enemy and had hidden this fact successfully away from my friends.  
All in all, it could have been a lot worse. I was expecting a huge blowout from Alana - which there was- and a mixed look of pity and betray from Kole. But neither of them vowed to disown me like I thought they would. Instead, they took deep, steady breaths and somehow managed to count to ten before speaking.  
It could have been worse, I realized happily. After all, Kole only threatened to kill Ren twelve times before I was able to gently reminded him that, if he killed Ren, I would have no teacher and we would lose the war. I also mentioned I would never forgive him.  
Of course, Ren's bright idea - which didn't seem so bright at the time but was slowly beginning to become brighter - regarding the whole thing wasn't much better. His bright idea had been to run away and elope, escaping to some far away, virtually-unknown island and living there the rest of their days. I would never admit it out loud, but after dealing with several minutes - almost an hour - of Kole's distrustful interrogation, I was sort of ready to move far away to an unknown island, and wished I had taken Ren up on that offer.  
"How many times did you kiss?" Kole asked, eyes narrowed.  
I glowered, furious. "Excuse me? What do you mean?"  
Kole glared at me heavily, as if glaring would make all his problems go away. "How many times did you kiss before…"  
"Before I made my choice?"  
"Before you made your mistake." He growled. "Before the one time you let your guard down and ran into Prince Ego-trip and he took advantage of you."  
I winced. "Kole, that's not how it—"  
"SHUT UP AND LET ME PRETEND, OKAY?" He yelled, and I had no choice but to recoil from my friend's temper. Kole took several deep breaths. One…Two…Three…Four…Five…Six…. Seven…Eight…Nine…Ten…before he finally cooled down enough to continue the conversation.  
He finally answered me, his temper temporarily cooled. "How many times did you kiss before…you chose?"  
I smiled softly before I answered him. "Not once. The one you witnessed was the first."  
Kole stroked his chin, thinking about what I had said. He seemed to feel a little - only a little - better about the whole thing.

Ren:

I was so happy and excited I felt like exploding. I finally had Odette…after so long I had thought I wanted her for different reasons, but now I had her for the right ones. She had quickly, impossibly become everything to me in a matter of days and I was determined to make sure she knew that everyday. She took over my senses completely, my every thought, my every glance, my every breath was filled by her wonderful, beautiful presence.  
With my belongings gathered, I followed Alana down a hallway to a door, Odette's hand wrapped warmly into mine. Alana stopped and gestured to the room as I let Odette go and walked past.  
"So here you go, home sweet home. I guess, you know, for now," Alana said. I looked through the window inside the bare room and Alana looked in through the door. "Unpack... lunch soon. Uh...welcome aboard?"  
I turned and smiled at Alana, appreciating her attempt. I knew Odette's friends - especially Kole were going to be uneasy around me for a while until I had proven myself, but so long as I had Odette and she knew who I really was inside, I would be okay.  
Alana stared back before turning away.  
"Yeah." I heard her outside the room as she walked up to Odette. "Ok, this is really, really weird."  
Odette and Alana walked away.  
Amused, I sat on the bed and unpacked. I pulled out a picture, a small portrait of Uncle. As I stared at it, I recalled another memory…  
…"If I have to, I will spend every day of the rest of my life hunting the Avatar. I know it's my destiny to capture him," I growled.  
Uncle placed his hand on my shoulder comfortingly.  
"You know, Prince Ren, destiny is a funny thing. You never know how things are going to work out. But if you keep an open mind and an open heart, I promise you will find your own destiny someday," he said…  
…In the present, I was smiling and nodding my head, only now understanding what he had meant by that. I then opened my eyes with slight alarm and turned my head as I felt a presence in the doorway.  
It was Kole, leaning against the frame.  
Oh great…this was not going to be fun. I knew he must have hated me…not only did I torment him personally I had also taken Odette away from him. He loved her too; it had been all over his face when he had chosen to let me stay.  
I stood up and faced him, about to say something, but Kole spoke first.  
"You might have everyone else here buying your "transformation". But you and I both know you've struggled with doing the right thing in the past," he said venomously and walked up to me and leaned forward threateningly. "So let me tell you something right now. You make one step backward, one slip-up, give me one reason to think you might hurt Odette... and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore. Because I'll make sure your destiny ends right then and there... Permanently."  
Kole turned without another word and walked away. I watched as he left through the door and slammed it closed behind him.


	13. Chapter 13: The Firebending Masters

Ren:

A few days after reuniting with Odette, we began our training. I decided to take her way out of the way, knowing how scared she was to accidentally hurt someone.  
Before we headed up, we had breakfast and then helped pack up the breakfast supplies. While we worked, I tried to sneak in a little flirting here and there, brushing up against her, trying to hold her hand. But she remained oblivious to all my attempts. Eventually, I just gave up and used a direct approach.  
As we walked, I glanced at her slyly as she helped sort out some supplies.  
"You know," I said slowly, waving extravagantly in the air. "I'm this close," I pinched my fingers so very near one another. "To kissing you."  
That got her attention.  
"What?" She almost dropped the basket of food in her arms.  
"Not like that." I explained at her hasty look. "I just want to tick Kole off. He's been getting on my nerves, and—"  
I expected her to get mad but instead, she surprised me with a witty smile that was absolutely adorable. "You think you'll get back at him by kissing me?"  
She giggled because she knew it would work.  
I returned her smile warmly. "Of course." I paused and rubbed my smooth chin thoughtfully. "There are other benefits, too, of course."  
She grinned.  
"Like what?" she asked cheekily.  
"Well, for one, I'd get to kiss you. I thinks that's a good enough reason in and of itself, personally."  
She stopped walking, and I in turn followed her example. She put the basket on the ground and crossed her arms, staring at me pointedly. "And what's stopping you?"  
Nothing. I realized as I closed the gap between us just as Kole turned up behind us.  
I had just barely brushed my lips to hers when he cleared his throat and glared daggers at me. I looked back at him evenly, daring him to start something.  
Odette sighed and laced her fingers through mine pointedly, shaking her head at him disappointedly. Kole shot us one more dirty look before storming off to go sulk somewhere.  
Odette looked up and smiled slightly before leading me off.  
"Come on," she said. "Let's get this over with."

Odette:

We stood at the balcony of one of the pagoda's, starting the lesson far away from the others so I wouldn't hurt anyone. I was already nervous enough that Ren was around.  
Ren turned and faced me at a safe distance. He took one look at my terrified face and smiled gently. "I know you're nervous, but remember... firebending in and of itself is not something to fear."  
I fidgeted uncomfortable, still hesitant.  
"Ok. Not something to fear." I still looked at him unsure.  
Ren crossed his strong arms and raised his voice to emphasize the point of treating fire with respect. "But if you don't respect it, it'll chew you up and spit you out like an angry komodo rhino!"  
I started and gave a yelp of fear.  
Ren rolled his shoulders and relaxed again. "Now show me what you've got. Any amount of fire you can make."  
I exhaled, took in a nervous breath and attempted to firebend. My palm released a small cloud of smoke which dissipated within a second. I glanced over at him and smiled sheepishly.  
"Maybe I need a little more instruction. Perhaps a demonstration?" I asked.  
"Good idea. You might want to take a couple steps back."  
He gestures me to move backward and I did so. Ren took in a breath, grunted and proceeded to firebend. The result was a rather small pathetic burst of flame. I applauded his failure nonetheless though.  
Ren recoiled back in confusion. "What was that?! That was the worst firebending I've ever seen!"  
He moved his hand in a "What is wrong?!" gesture.  
I looked to the floor before looking back at him with a shrug. "I thought it was, nice."  
Ren grunted again and firebended in rapid succession. All his flames were small like the first. He grunted in frustration and stared at his palms furiously.  
"Why is this happening?!" he growled at them angrily.  
I thought for a moment, trying to make him feel better. "Maybe it's the altitude."  
Ren turned away from me, looking unsure and lost. "Yeah, could be."  
We quickly found a spot lower in altitude. I was sitting on a broken pillar and watching Ren firebend with the same results.  
Ren grunted in frustration and unleashed another blast with no improvement. I yawned and laid down.  
"Just breathe, and…" he paused to firebend again.  
I sat up and smiled slightly.  
"That one kind of felt hot," I complimented.  
Ren lashed out and threw his hand out angrily. "Don't patronize me. You know what it's supposed to look like!"  
"Sorry Sifu Hotman," I apologized.  
Ren raised his arms and shouted. "And stop calling me that!"  
I cringed, knowing not to take it personally.  
Alana walked over then, biting on an apple. She found a spot and sat down to observe the two of us.  
"Hey, jerks. Mind if I watch you two jerks do your jerk bending?" she asked and I gave her an odd look.  
"Get out of here!" Ren yelled and made a "Get lost" movement with his arm.  
"Ok, take it easy," Alana said and dropped her apple core, waving her hand dismissively. "I was just kidding around."  
She stood up to adjust her shirt, still smirking. "Jerk bending, still got it."  
Ren dropped his head down and moaned while I looked on.

Ren:

That night at the temple, I ran over everything that had happened with my fire bending today and tried to figure out it source.  
Emrys was resting near one of the fountains, licking a small mound of fish. I was leaning on a column with my arms crossed, deep in thought. After a while, I turned my head back to the campfire where everyone was settled for dinner. A little hesitant, I walked toward them, being careful not to step on anyone's toes since we were all still getting used to each other.  
"Listen everybody," I said and everyone turned their head towards me. "I've got some pretty bad news. I've lost my stuff."  
Odette frowned and got up, walking over to me worriedly as I dropped my head dejectedly. This was beyond humiliating for me…I'd volunteered for this and now I couldn't even do it!  
Elise raised both arms to show she was innocent as I wrapped an arm around Odette's slender waist.  
"Don't look at me. I didn't touch your stuff," the earth bender said and folded her arms.  
I sighed. "I'm talking about my firebending. It's gone."  
Cash, Alana, Haru and The Duke looked at me. The Duke attempted to sit up and Kole started laughing maniacally.  
Irritated with his usual bitterness toward me, I glared darkly at him while everyone was looked at him like he'd lost it.  
Kole looked up and met my gaze with a wide smirk. "I'm sorry. I'm just laughing at the irony. You know... how it would have been nice for us if you lost your firebending a long time ago?"  
I shook my head at him and pointedly tightened my grip on Odette, making his face fall as he looked away angrily.  
I returned my attention to the others. "Well it's not lost. It's just weaker for some reason."  
Kole held up his bowl and glared daggers at me. "Maybe you're just not as good as you think you are."  
"Ouch," Elise said.  
I ignored them. "I bet it's because I changed sides."  
"That's ridiculous," Kole snorted and drank the contents in the bowl.  
Odette glared at him before looked up at me. "I don't know. Maybe it isn't. Maybe your firebending comes from rage, and you just don't have enough anger to fuel it the way you used to."  
Alana suddenly appeared comically next to us, shoving Odette away and out of my grasp. "So, all we need to do is make Ren angry... easy enough."  
She proceeded to nudge me in the waist and head with the hilt of her sword several times. After a few moments of that, despite trying to keep a lid on my temper, I was irritated enough to complain.  
"Ok, cut it out!" I bellowed and Alana stopped what she was doing and her sword fell on her head. Frustrated, I rubbed the bridge of my nose as Odette hugged me comfortingly. "Look... even if you're right, I don't want to rely on hate and anger anymore. There has to be another way."  
"You're gonna need to learn to draw your firebending from a different source. I recommend the original source," Elise said as Alana came over to her, rubbing her head. When she was finished speaking, Elise put food into her mouth and chewed smugly.  
Alana frowned. "How's he supposed to do that? By jumping into a volcano?"  
Elise swallowed her food and shrugged. "No. I needs to go back to whatever the original source of firebending is."  
Alana thought for a moment before looking to me. "So is it jumping into a volcano?"  
"I don't know. For earthbending, the original benders were badgermoles," Elise said. "One day, when I was little, I ran away and hid in a cave. That's where I met them. They were blind, just like me, so we understood each other. I was able to learn earthbending, not just as a martial art, but as an extension of my senses. For them, the original earthbenders, it wasn't just about fighting. It was their way of interacting with the World."  
Odette was impressed by the story, ever the sucker for a good one. "That's amazing, Elise. I learned from the monks, but the original airbenders were the ice dragons, like Emrys. Maybe you can give me a lesson sometime buddy."  
Odette had leaned back to address Emrys who growled in acknowledgement.  
"Well, this doesn't help me. The original firebenders were the fire dragons, and they're extinct," I said, hopeless.  
Odette frowned. "What do you mean? Koren had a dragon, and there were plenty of dragons when I was a kid."  
"Well, they aren't around anymore, ok?" I snapped, defensive. If she found out the truth behind why the fire dragons had disappeared she would think of my family as murderous monsters…which most of them were.  
"Ok, ok," Odette said and moved her arm around in an appeasing gesture. "I'm sorry."  
"But maybe there's another way," I pondered, walking towards the fountain. "The first people to learn from the dragons were the ancient Sun Warriors."  
Odette came over and joined me. "Sun Warriors? Well, I know they weren't around when I was a kid."  
I smiled slightly. "No, they died off thousands of years ago, but their civilization wasn't too far from where we are now. Maybe we can learn something by poking around their ruins."  
"It's like the monks used to tell me. Sometimes, the shadows of the past can be felt by the present," she said, nodding in understanding.  
"So, what?" Alana asked and we turned our heads towards the voice. As she spoke, she moved her hand in a fluttering motion. "Maybe you'll pick up some super old Sun Warrior energy just by standing where they stood 1000 years ago?"  
I shrugged. It was the best haunch I'd had so far. "More or less. Either I find a new way to firebend, or the Avatar has to find a new teacher."  
I looked down at Odette, her beautiful sweet face looking as worried as I felt.

Odette:

Emrys flew over a vast ocean.  
Ren was tossing in the saddle, looking bored.  
"We've been riding for hours. I don't know why, but I thought this thing would be a lot faster," he complained and I rolled my eyes at him. I loved him to death but holy crow the boy sure was whiny.  
Emrys growled at him and I patted the side of her scaly neck.  
"Emrys's right, Ren. In our group, typically we start out our missions with a more upbeat attitude," I said, giving him a sigh look.  
"I can't believe this," he growled in a low voice and I laughed as he sighed and rested his head on the boat.  
"Don't worry. You'll get the hang of it."  
Emrys pushed her tail down to gain some speed and soared through the cloud at a faster speed, nearing an island. We neared a bunch of ruins with a very impressive architecture similar to that of the Mayans.  
Simultaneously, with looks of surprise on our faces, we spoke at the same time.  
"Whoa!"  
Emrys descended on to the ruins. We got off and started making out way through, holding hands as we climbed over the ruble.  
As we walked in a small "valley", Ren spoke, looking around in complete awe.  
"Even though these buildings are ancient, there's something eerily familiar about them. I can tell the Fire Sages' temples are somehow descended from these," he said.  
I didn't see how that helped with out current situation.  
"Ok, we learned something about architecture. Hopefully, we'll learn something about firebending too. The past can be a great teacher," I started to lecture but was cut off when I accidentally tripped over a black wire.  
I yelled in surprise and my hand slipped out of Ren as I flew forward. The ground in front of us dropped to reveal a bed of black, deadly spikes. Panicked, I exhaled a huge gust of air from my mouth to prevent myself from falling into the trap and propelled myself across it, landing rather shakily to the other side. I struggled to control my balance, flailing my arms about. Finally, I pushed myself forward and regained control.  
I spun back to my companion, frightened. "Ren, I think the past is trying to kill me."  
He kneeled down and inspect the wire, amazed. "I can't believe it. This booby trap must be centuries old, and it still works."  
"There's probably a lot more. Maybe this means we shouldn't be here."  
Ren took a step back and started to run on a wall and landed in front of me. He had barely stopped when he suddenly yanked me to him and planted a kiss on my lips that made my toes curl before pulling away..  
He smirked at me and dusted his self off as I caught my breath. "Where's that upbeat attitude you were talking about? Besides, people don't make traps unless they've got something worth protecting."  
We both looked upwards to a rather grand and elaborate structure that seemed to be intact.

Ren:

Odette and I finally made it to the top of the structure after an hour o walking.  
"Look. This seems promising," Odette said, looking at a carving of a person in the middle being surrounded by concentric circles of fire breathed out by two dragons on each side of him. "Though I'm not sure what this tells us about the original source of firebending."  
"They look pretty angry to me," I commented, looking over her shoulder.  
Odette frowned. "I thought the dragons were friends with the Sun Warriors."  
"Well, they had a funny way of showing it," I replied and I looked away and took a few steps before I was interrupted by Odette.  
"Ren, something happened to the dragons in the last 100 years. Something you're not telling me…"  
I sighed…I couldn't hide anything from her. She was the only person who could see right through me. That both scared me, and delighted me at the same time.  
"My great-grandfather Ezra happened," I sighed.  
She gave me a concerned look as we walked across a stone bridge with dragon protrusions at the side.  
"He started the tradition of hunting dragons for glory. They were the ultimate firebenders. And if you could conquer one, your firebending talents would become legendary, and you'd earn the honorary title "Dragon"," I explained as we reached the end of the bridge. There were dragon statues at the end. One of the statues was missing a head. "The last great dragon was conquered long before I was born, by my Uncle."  
I stood before the head of the broken dragon statue. I looked down at the dragon statue's eye and patted the eye of the decapitated head sadly.  
Odette was surprised. "But I thought your Uncle was, I don't know, good?"  
I shrugged. "He had a complicated past. Family tradition, I guess. Let's just move on."  
This story only depressed me.  
We walked up the distance between the dragon statue's head and its neck. Eventually, we came to a column with a red jewel embedded in the center. The column was positioned in front of a structure with two yellow doors. Odette and I walked towards the doors. She walked towards them, dropped her staff and attempted to open them with her bare hands to no avail.  
"It's locked up," she said.  
Unsure of what to do, I touched my head, looked behind me, and then stepped aside to reveal the red jewel from the column beaming light on my hand.  
I suddenly got it.  
"Wait." I stepped aside to reveal the beam of red light resting on a circle on the ground. "It's a celestial calendar. Just like the Fire Sages have in their temples. I bet that Sun Stone opens the door, but only when sunlight hits it at just the right angle, on the solstice."  
I looked up at a matching red stone at the top of the door.  
Odette groaned, exasperated. "Monkey feathers! The solstice again? We can't wait here that long."  
"No we can't," I said, getting another idea. I unsheathed my broadsword and laid it in the path of the red beam. "But we might be able to speed time up. Let's see if we can outsmart the Sun Stone."  
I attempted to adjust my sword and the beam of light moved shakily across the doors and successfully hit the Sun Stone. It glowed brightly.  
Odette stared for a long moment before turning back to me, her grey eyes troubled. "Nothing's happening."  
My hand starting to tremble slightly, I held my sword in place. "Come on…"  
The ground started to shake after a few more moments and I held my breath. As suddenly as it started, the rumbling stopped and the door opened wide, Odette standing in front of it.  
Odette picked up her staff as I sheathed my sword. "You know, Ren, I don't care what everyone else says about you, you're pretty smart."  
She winked at me and planted a soft kiss on my cheek that made my heart thump unsteadily.  
I smiled as Odette walked in and squinted her eyes. She turned and came face to face with a statue with an angry face and she gasped in surprise, jumping back. When she jumped back, she tripped over her own feet and fell backwards. I rushed forward and caught her securely against my chest and steadied her before she could hit the ground.  
"Relax. They're just statues," I said as she straightened up.  
She looked up again at the ring of statues in various fighting positions. The positions of one half of the ring of statues was symmetrical to the other half.  
Odette scratched her head and read the description at the foot of the statue as I walked to the back of the room, looking for anything that could help us.  
"It says this is something called The Dancing Dragon," she said. I heard her moving something but I ignored it as I read an inscription..  
Odette suddenly ran over and barreled into me, knocking me practically off my feet.  
"Odette!" I snapped as I almost fell over. She ignored my annoyed tone and latched onto me by my elbow.  
"Ren, get over here. I want you to dance with me," she said and tried to pull me along insistently.  
I pulled back my arm in shock. "What?"  
What in the world was wrong with her? I mean sure I would've danced with her at any other time but now? She really had the worst timing for things.  
"Just do it," she said, rolling her eyes and grabbed me again and dragged me away.  
We stood behind the statues and I groaned, slumping my shoulders unhappily.  
Odette smiled at me. "Let's follow the steps of the statues."  
Both of us stepped to the first move and then moved on to the next. As I moved into the next step, my boot stepped on a plate, sinking my foot down slightly.  
I looked on, surprised as I realized Odette was onto something.  
"Don't you see? These aren't dance moves. These statues are giving us a lesson," she said as both of us moved in synchronization as she spoke. "I think this is some kind of Sun Warrior firebending form."  
No matter how many times she said it, the girl was way smarter than me. I would have never thought of this in a thousand years.  
I moved along the line of statues as my feet moved from plate to plate. I got into punching position and moved into another position with my arms spread in a low arc above my shoulders, not enjoying the dancing part one bit.  
"This better teach us some really good fire bending," I growled.  
I glanced over at Odette who was doing the same two moves. She got into a position with her arms stretched forward. She bended her torso to the right with her fists out-stretch and I did a mirror image, our fists connecting as we finished the dance with ease.  
A sound echoed suddenly in the room and a hole appeared in the center of it. Both of us turned to look at it in surprise. A pedestal with a golden egg-like object ascended from the hole and glinted in the light.  
Odette raised both arms in victory. "Hurray! Wait. What exactly is that?"  
"It's some kind of mystical gem stone," I said excitedly and ran towards the pedestal.  
"Well, don't touch it!" Odette snapped and raised her arms as a warning and I stopped in my tracks.  
I frowned. "Why not?"  
"Remember what happened out there with those spikes I'm just very suspicious of giant, glowing gems sitting on pedestals," she said, looking from side to side with her hands rubbing her temples worriedly.  
Silly girl…she was supposed be the avatar yet she could be the biggest scaredy cat I had ever met. I ignored her and removed the gem stone off the pedestal. Odette's eyebrow twitched in irritation.  
The stone was warm and had little weight to it. Inside it felt like something was moving…like a small heart was faintly beating deep within the stone.  
"It feels almost alive," I murmured, awed.  
I tried to put back the gem stone and yelled in surprise as a jet of green goo suddenly spurted out from the pedestal and pushed me towards the grating in the ceiling, sticking me there.  
Odette spun and looked at the door closing. "Oh, no, it's another trap!"  
More green goo started to flow from the pedestal and Odette backed away cautiously as I struggled, desperate to save her. I had my back stuck to the grating and struggled to break free but the gemstone and I were held tight.  
"Ugh, I can't pull free. It's like some kind of glue," I said, struggling violently again.  
Odette jumped across the goo to grab her staff on the other side of the room. She jumped up on the statue's head and airbended a strong gust of wind toward me in an attempt to free me. The force from the wind only pushed and moved me from my back to my front but I was still stuck. The goo rapidly rose and Odette tried to pull her staff out of the goo to protect herself to no avail. Frightened, she jumped up toward the grating as the goo rapidly engulfed the room.  
Odette tried to budge the metal bars and found herself ensnared in the good as well and her grey eyes flew wide with panic. "I can't move. Ren, do something!"  
I spluttered at her, trying to hide my panic. "Me? I can't move either."  
Inside the room, the goo was nearing both of us. We groaned in discomfort as a result from the pressure of the goo pushing us against the grating, smashing us into the bars and making it feel hard to breathe. The goo suddenly stopped pressing against us.  
Odette gasped, breathing hard. "It stopped."  
I smiled at her, relieved we were both safe. "At least we have air. Maybe if we stay calm we can figure a way out of this."

Odette:

Night stained the sky and shadows crept over the ruins.  
Ren and I were both still in the same position we had been in a few hours earlier.  
By this point, I was thoroughly irritated with him. Though I was beyond relived eh was okay, I was miffed by the fact that he had ignored my warning because he was too stubborn and thick headed to listen.  
"You had to pick up the glowing egg, didn't you?" I growled.  
Ren glared at me, hurt. "At least I made something happen. If it were up to you, we'd never have made it pass the courtyard."  
I ignored that opened my mouth widely, making Ren's amber eyes go wide with surprise. "HELP!"  
Ren turned his head to me, glaring. "Who are you yelling to? Nobody's lived here for centuries."  
"Well, what do you think we should do?"  
He was quiet for a moment. "Think about our place in the Universe?"  
Holding back a giggle of amusement, I shook my head and sighed.  
Suddenly, a foot wearing a sandal stepped onto the grating.  
"Who is down there?" a man's deep voice growled threateningly.  
We looked up and saw a man in tribal gear wearing a Chieftian's hat and war paint on his face.  
I stiffen, both Ren and I shocked by the presence of the person in the supposedly abandoned ruins.

Ren:

Outside of the structure where the gem-stone room was, Odette and I were freed but still covered in goo. Anteater-like animals sat on either side of us and licked the goo off. We were surrounded by concentric semi-circles of men and women wearing gear identical to the Chief's. Four of the menacing warriors were holding small flames in their hands.  
I slid closer to Odette, shielding her slightly from the threatening warriors, prepared to take every ounce of the attack.  
The Warrior Chief glared down at me. "For trying to take our Sun Stone, you must be severely punished!"  
I glared as the animals stopped licking us. I still had a small spot of goo on my chin but it was easy to ignore.  
"We didn't come here to take your Sun Stone. We came here to find the ancient origin of all fire bending," I snapped, defensive.  
A man beside the Chief stepped forward. "Yeah, right. They are obviously thieves, here to steal Sun Warrior treasures."  
I narrowed my eyes darkly as he held the Sun stone tightly in his arms.  
"Please," Odette said, placing a calming hand on my arm, nodding that it was okay. I grudgingly let her lean forward, but stayed tensed in case I needed to defend her.  
"I don't normally play this card, but…I'm the Avatar," she said looking, confident and placing a hand on her chest.  
The man looked towards the Chief, puzzled. Odette stood up and gave a weak smile, staying close to my side as I rose with her.  
"Just hear us out."  
She elbowed me pointedly and I sighed, taking a tiny step forward so I stood beside her.  
"My name is Ren, Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. Or at least, I used to be. I know my people have distorted the ways of firebending, to be fueled by anger and rage. But now I want to learn the true way," I explained, looking at the group of warriors evenly. I was a little remorseful as I continued. "The original way. When we came here, I never imagined the Sun Warrior civilization was secretly alive. I am truly humbled to be in your presence. Please, teach us."  
Odette smiled at me slightly as we both bowed our heads down in respect.  
Sun Warrior Chief studied us carefully for a moment. 'If you wish to learn the ways of the Sun, you must learn them from the masters Invictus and Thorn."  
Odette blinked. "Invictus and Thorn? There are two of them?"  
The Sun Warrior Chief stepped in front of us, stepping toward me and towering over me, something most people could not do. "When you present yourselves to them, they will examine you. They'll read your hearts, your souls, and your ancestry. If they deem you unworthy, you'll be destroyed on the spot."  
Well that wasn't good, I thought to myself, extremely worried.  
The Chief stepped back after finishing his lecture and Odette and I looked at each other.

Odette:

The next day we were taken to the main structure.  
Ren and I stood before what appeared to be a fire at the top most dome. The warriors stood in concentric semi-circles again, the Chief in front of us.  
"If you're going to see the masters, you must bring them a piece of the eternal flame," The Chief said as the eternal flame burned fiercely. He raised his arms in pride and turned back towards us. "This fire is the very first one. It was given to Man by the dragons. We have kept it going for thousands of years."  
Ren was bewildered. "I don't believe it."  
"You will each take a piece of it to the masters, to show your commitment to the sacred art of firebending."  
I was extremely unsure. "Um, Mister Sun Chief, sir? Yeah... I'm not a firebender yet. Couldn't my friend here carry my fire for me?"  
Sun Warrior Chief glared at me sternly. "No."  
He turned back to the fire as I continued to look at him, rather uneasy. I looked at the Chief's hand and he "pulled" the fire towards his palms.  
The Sun Warrior Chief held them carefully. "This ritual illustrates the essence of Sun Warrior  
philosophy."  
He turned a full circle and split the fire equally in to two.  
"You must maintain a constant heat," he said as I stared at the flame, transfixed. "The flame will go out if you make it too small."  
I cringed.  
"Make it too big, and you might lose control."  
Ren was staring coolly at the flame and proceeded to cradle the flame in his hands. He looked at me expectantly, his eyes warm and encouraging.  
I still hadn't collected my flame.  
"I'm sorry. I'm just a little nervous," I apologized. Terrified, I proceeded to gather it into my hands. The fire grew slightly and I looked relieved and in awe at the little thing. There was a steady beating vibrating from within the flame, making it feel alive.  
"It's like a little heartbeat," I murmured, amazed.  
The Sun Warrior Chief nodded as I reassured myself with a small smile.  
"Fire is life, not just destruction. You will take your flames up there." The Chief pointed to a rocky mountain nearby and we turned our heads toward that direction. "The cave of the masters is beneath that rock."  
Ugh. This was going to be a long trip.

Ren:

We trudged through a forest, making our way up a steep grassy incline. When I had reached the top of the incline and turned back to Odette who was lagging quite a distance behind. I knew she was having trouble with this but she would not appreciate me pointing that out to her.  
"Hurry up," I barked.  
"I can't," Odette snapped back and placed one hand on the rock. "If I walk too fast, my flame will go out."  
I quirked an eyebrow and looked back at her rather small flame.  
"Your flame's gonna go out because it's too small. You're too timid. Give it more juice," I said.  
Odette sighed and climbed up and looked worriedly at me. "But what if I can't control it?"  
I smiled at her. "You can do it. I know you can. You're a talented kid.  
Odette beamed and pushed herself up and continued to follow me as we slowly made our way towards the mountain.  
By dusk and we hade just arrived at our destination. The warriors were already there and are poised in an alternating standing and sitting position. There was a U-shaped rock with a bridge in the center.  
How the blazes did they get here so fast?  
The Sun Warrior Chief walked towards us.  
"Facing the judgment of the firebending masters will be very dangerous for both of you. Your ancestors are directly responsible for the dragons' disappearances." I looked towards the side in shame, feeling small under his hard gaze. "The masters might not be so happy to see you."  
Ham - the man who had smarted off to me before - placed his hand on his hip, trying to intimidate me. "I know I wouldn't be."  
Odette interrupted. "But once they find out I'm the Avatar…"  
The Sun Warrior Chief spun on her. "Have you forgotten that you vanished allowing the Fire Nation to wreak havoc on the world? The decline of the dragons is your burden too."  
I felt a small burst of anger as Odette also turned her head away in shame.  
The Chief drove his staff into the ground and Sun warriors got into a "ready" position at either side of the staff. I noted that both lines of warriors were mirror image of each other. The Chief grabbed a section from each flame and places it on the Sun Warriors' palms. They moved away and the Chief removed his staff. A warrior received a flame and bended it around in a circle a few times before the next warrior who was standing bended a small part of the flame towards him and repeated the process.  
"We could turn back now. We've already learned more about fire than we hoped," Odette said, showing me that she could handle her fire and gave a weak smile.  
She was terrified, even more than I was.  
"No, we're seeing this through to the end. We're gonna meet these masters and find out what's so great about them."  
Odette's eyes widened. "What if they judge us and attack us?"  
"Well, we're the Fire Prince and the Avatar," I said and unsheathed my broadswords slightly to emphasize my point and smiled. "I think we can take these guys in a fight, whoever they are."  
Besides, even if I didn't make it, I would do everything I could to make sure she got out alive.  
Odette nodded but was still uneasy and I wondered if she knew the direction my thoughts had taken.  
The warriors completed the passing of the flame.  
I stepped forward with confidence. "Bring 'em out."  
The Sun Warrior Chief opened his hand to the side. "Chanters!"  
The warriors were sitting down and beat in synchronized rhythm on their drums. The warriors held the circle of flame remaining in their positions as Odette and I walked forward. On the other half of the circle, the warriors were rising and bowing alternatively.  
We neared the flight of long steps.  
The Chief and the two warriors stepped aside to let us pass.  
Odette and I glanced at each other and both of us took a deep breath to calm our nerves before ascending. The warriors continued beating the drums.  
Odette looked back when we got halfway there, seemingly wanting to go back but she pressed forward with a "I've got no choice" look on her face. We soon neared the top with the setting sun shining upon us in the background. The music stopped when we reached the top. Both of us looked at the caves on each side of the bridge.  
The Sun Warrior used a megaphone-like object to amplify his voice. "Those who wish to meet the masters Invictus and Thorn will now present their fire."  
Odette and I turned towards the caves and bowed down with our hands extended in front of us.  
"Sound the call!"  
A warrior took a deep breath and blew into a wind instrument. The loud sound it produced sent a flock of birds scattering in the background. The cave Odette was facing rumbled and vibrated as the rocks dislodge. I could feel her trembling violently in fear.  
"What's happening?" she gasped.  
She looked at my cave which remained undisturbed. I turned and gave her a puzzled look, worried. She quickly returned back into her "flame-giving" position. After a moment, she suddenly gasped, turning back towards me again.  
"Ren, my fire went out," she whispered, scared.  
Oh great.  
I whispered back. "What do you want me to do?"  
"Give me some of yours," she hissed and reached for my fire and I gently pushed her back. She was going to get both of us killed!  
"No, just make your own."  
"I can't," she shot back and reached for my flame.  
"Get some from one of those warriors. Hurry. Stop cheating off me!" My voice raised as she continued to claw at me determinedly.  
Odette grew irritated. "Quit being stingy!"  
She continued to reach for me flame but was unable to do so due to the differences between our heights. I raised my arms higher so the flame remained out of Odette's reach and she tried to grab it by sticking close to my back and flailing her arms. She used two hands to grab the flame from under my armpits and we struggled briefly before I grew frustrated and dropped my hand, extinguishing the flame.  
Not good.  
We looked at each other, unsure.  
We turned to the inside of one of the caves and the ground shook at the cave rumbled. Troubled, we turned our heads towards the other cave and looked into the black emptiness within.  
"Uh-oh," we both said at the same time.  
A pair of yellow eyes glowed in the dark and suddenly, a red dragon roared and shot out of the cave. It circled around the bridge and the pair of us. We were overwhelmed by the powerful winds and pressure and staggered slightly. I looked around, shocked, and followed the dragon's trail.  
Fire dragon…  
A blue dragon flew out of the other cave and joined its partner in circling around each other, the bridge and us.  
"These are the masters," I gaped, bewildered.  
Odette leaned towards me and lowered her voice to a whisper. "You still think we can take 'em?"  
"Shh. I never said that," I snapped.  
The dragons were still circling in the air and generating powerful winds, flying in an elaborate formation of turns, twists and curves.  
I glanced at Odette who was deep in thought.  
"Ren, I think we're supposed to do The Dragon Dance with them," she whispered to me.  
"What? What about this situation that you think they want us to dance?" I asked, skeptic.  
Odette shrugged. "Well, I think they want us to do something. Let's just try it."  
I groaned. "Fine."  
We got into the first position of The Dragon Dance and proceed to the next. Odette spread her arms out and the blue dragon behind her followed the shape of her arms. She turned her arms to her side and the dragon turned as well. The dragons were performing the same movements and were symmetrical to one another.  
I pushed my hand up and the red dragon behind me angles upwards as well. I dipped and the dragon dove down as well. Odette and I slowly headed towards on another and the dragons complemented our movements. Finally, we got into our final pose and I realized that the dragons had stopped and were flapping their wings on either side of the bridge.  
The Sun Warrior Chief called up to us. "Judgment time."  
The blue dragon snarled at me and I stared at it in absolute terror, Odette visibly trembling behind me as she pressed up against my back.  
I looked the amazing beast, mouth agape. Odette gave out a series of timid, unsure shrieks. As the two dragons settled into another position with their legs being anchored at the bottom of the bridge and their arms supporting their weight at the top.  
Suddenly, the red dragon bean to breathe fire out of its mouth, the blue dragon doing the same. Odette and I yelled in fear and I spun, grabbing her and covering her small body as we were engulfed by a rapidly rising multi-colored flame.  
Nothing happened. I felt no heat…no pain.  
Were we dead?  
Scared, I looked up into the eye of the vortex. Odette and I remained in our positions, shell-shocked at the sight. The dragons had angled their mouths up, fire still being breathed out in a swirling vortex of rainbow flames.  
Inside of the vortex we stared at the scene in wonder. I looked into Odette's eyes and an orange color reflected off her pupils and she gasped in amazement.  
I nodded in realization, finally understanding the meaning of…it all.  
"I understand," I murmured, looking up at them gratefully.  
The flame slowly dissipated at my words and the dragons curled their bodies, springing up and circling each other one final time before they retreated to their caves.

Odette:

Ham looked annoyed that nothing had happened to us. The warrior holding the circle of fire moved his arm in a circle, extinguishing the flame and ending his hands in a position demonstrated by Ms. Ellesmere when i had been in the Fire Nation school.  
Ren and I slowly descended on the steps, both of us reeling from the rare experience. I looked up at him and smiled slightly, taking his hand. I was glad that he was the one who I'd gotten to share this experience with…no one else would have understood like he did.  
Ren squeezed my hand, his beautiful amber eyes full of excitement. "Their fire was beautiful. I saw so many colors, colors I've never imagined."  
I nodded. "Like firebending harmony."  
The Sun Warrior Chief approached us as we reached the bottom, a new sense of respect in his eyes. Apparently not a lot of people returned from these steps. "Yes. They judged you, and gave you visions of the meaning of firebending."  
"I can't believe there are still living dragons. My Uncle Ira said he faced the last dragon and killed it," Ren said in disbelief.  
"So, your Uncle lied," I gaped, just as surprised.  
"Actually," the Sun Warrior Chief smiled, "it wasn't a total lie. Ira was the last outsider to face the masters. They deemed him worthy and passed the secret onto him as well."  
Ren's eyes widen in surprise. "He must have lied to protect them, so no one else would hunt them."  
"All this time, I thought firebending was destruction. Since I hurt Kole, I've been too afraid and hesitant. But now I know what it really is... it's energy, and life," I said, leaning against Ren.  
"Yeah. It's like the Sun," he replied, his hand curling into a fist. "But inside of you. Do you guys realize this?"  
He extended both arms outward in excitement.  
"Well, our civilization is called the Sun Warriors... so yeah."  
"That's why my firebending was so weak before. Because for so many years, hunting you," Ren said, turning towards me, "was my drive... it was my purpose. So when I joined you, I lost sight of my inner fire. But now, I have a new drive. I have to help you defeat my father and restore balance to the world."  
I smiled up at Ren's determined face and brushed a strand of hair from his forehead.  
Ren smiled and firebended twice with a rather large sized flame. I followed his example and bended for the first time with confidence.  
My flame was large as well. Ren smiled at me proudly, his eyes full of love as I finally conquered my fears.  
We walked towards each other, happy at our achievement and embraced tightly. He tilted my chin up and pressed a soft kiss to my lips, rubbing his thumb against my cheek.  
"Now that you have learned the secrets, and you know about our tribe's existence," The Sun Warrior Chief's face suddenly turned serious. "We have no choice but to imprison you here forever."  
Both of out mouths opened in shock. Ren glanced at me and then took a threatening step toward the chief, stepping in front of me and blocking me from their view, his hand on his swords. I rolled my eyes and stepped up beside him, taking a bending stance, prepared for a fight.  
The chief considered us, surprise flashing across his face briefly before he smiled.  
"Just kidding," he said and we let out postures relax. The Chief shook his head before turning serious again. "But seriously, don't tell anyone!"

Ren:

"With this technique the dragons showed us, Ren and I would be unstoppable." Odette said.  
The two of us were back at the air temple and were currently demonstrating The Dragon Dance to our friends. The best part of the entire thing was that we were able to firebend at each step…together. We got into our final pose and our group applauded.  
Alana smiled snarkily. "Yeah, that's a great dance you two learned there."  
I bristled defensively. "It's not a dance. It's a firebending form."  
"We'll just tap-dance our way to victory over the Fire Lord," she responded, moving her fingers in a dancing motion.  
I walked towards Alana, irritated with her lack of respect. "It's a sacred form that happens to be thousands of years old!"  
Kole looked up at me, his eyes hard and unfriendly as usual. "Oh yeah? What's your little form called?"  
Of course Kole would be the one to ask that.  
I slumped a little, embarrassed. "The Dancing Dragon."  
Our group laughed boisterously. As I tried to still my temper, Odette giggled and came over and placed a comforting kiss on my cheek and I released my irritation as a shrug.


	14. Chapter 14: The Boiling Rock

Ren:

It was night time at the Western Air Temple.  
I was carrying a tray full of tea cups with one hand and holding a kettle and filling up the empty cups with the other.  
"No one can make tea like Uncle," I said to my group as they all sat around the fire. "But hopefully I learned a thing or two. Would you like to hear Uncle's favorite tea joke?"  
"Sure," Kole said, surprising me slightly.  
Odette smiled, sitting next to him. "I like jokes."  
"Bring it," Elise cheered as I stood up with my tray.  
"Okay." I kneeled between The Duke and Haru as they helped themselves. "Well, I can't remember how it starts but the punch line is, "Leaf me alone, I'm bushed.'"  
They all gave a dead panned look. There wasn't even the sound of crickets to help me out.  
"Well, it's funnier when Uncle tells it," I explained.  
"Right. Maybe that's because he remembers the whole thing," Kole snorted as he grabbed a cup.  
Odette laughed and helped herself to a cup, patting my arm as everyone else laughed as well. I smiled, happy that they were finally starting to warm up to me.  
"It's nice to get a chance to relax a little," Elise said as I walked between her and Cash and handed them their drinks. "It hardly ever happens."  
I turned to Alana who was sitting by herself at the side, thinking. When I approached, she looked up at me with her clear blue eyes, serious. "Hey, can I talk to you for a second?"  
Without a word, she got up and walked away. Confused, I placed my tray down and followed. We walked to the area where Emrys was resting.  
"So what's up?" I asked as the dragon woke up and looked up at us with her big eyes.  
She didn't answer me and we continued to walk further into the dark, far out of the reach of the others ears.  
"If someone was captured by the Fire Nation, where would they be taken?" she asked suddenly, turning to me.  
I frowned. "What do you mean? Who was captured?"  
"When the invasion plan failed, some of our troops were taken. I just want to know where they might be," she replied, gesturing with both her hands out.  
I stiffened, my blood running cold. "I can't tell you."  
Alana was annoyed. "What? Why not?"  
"Trust me. Knowing would just make you feel worse," I turned around and Alana grabbed my shoulder.  
"It's my Dad. He was captured too. I need to know what I put him through."  
Oh great that made me want to tell her all the more. The man would be lucky if he was still in one piece…  
"It's not good Alana."  
"Please."  
I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to decide if I should tell her or not. After a moment, I opened my eyes, knowing I had to. "My guess is…They were taken to the Boiling Rock."  
Alana frowned slightly. "What's that?"  
"The highest security prison in the Fire Nation," I said, watching gravely as her mouth went slightly agape. "It's on an island in the middle of a boiling lake. It's inescapable."  
She turned away from me and folded her arms, looking serious. "So where is this place?"  
I started. If she went there she would be eaten alive…if she didn't get herself turned into human soup trying to get there first. "Why do you need to know? What are you planning?"  
"Nothing. Boy, you're so paranoid," she said and waved her arm dismissively.  
I watched her warily. "It's in the middle of a volcano between here and the Fire Nation. You guys actually flew right past it on your way here."  
"Thanks Ren," she said and yawned, patting my shoulder as she walked past. "Just knowing makes me feel better."  
"Yeah, I'm sure it does."  
I could tell just by her expression she was going to go. She wasn't a very convincing liar at all. Well…I wasn't going to let her get herself get killed so easily.  
Thinking up a plan, I walked back to the fire.

Alana:

Odette was snoring quietly in her sleep.  
My boot-clad foot walked tip-toed pat her and Kole sleeping in his sleeping bag. The others were asleep as well as I silently walked towards Emrys with my belongings.  
I let out a sigh after successfully not waking anyone and turned. My eyes widen suddenly and I froze as I nearly tripped over a sleeping Fang. Careful, I walked over him and pattered my way towards Emrys. I started to climb up the dragon as she awakened. I shushed her and Emrys went back to sleep. My hand reached the saddle and I pulled myself up.  
Ren was already waiting for me.  
"Not up to anything, huh?" he growled, his golden brown eyes glittering angrily.  
I yelped in shock and lost my grip as I fell down on the hard stone floor with a loud thud and groan, my heart hammering in surprise. Ren's head appeared over the top of the saddle as he looked down at me.  
"Fine, you caught me. I'm gonna rescue my Dad," I snapped as I put back my belongings back into his bag. "You happy now?"  
"I'm never happy."  
That was a lie…Odette made him happy. She was probably the only one who could manage to do that.  
"Look, I have to do this. The invasion plan was my idea. It was my decision to stay when things were going wrong." I walked towards Emrys as Ren jumped off the dragon. "It's my mistake and it's my job to fix it. I have to regain my honor. You can't stop me Ren."  
He didn't understand…he'd never lost a father. Well, maybe he had in a way but his father was a psycho path who burned and disowned him and they hated each other. I loved my father with all my heart…I would die for him. He was my best friend and I had to get him back.  
Ren glared and I knew I had hit a sore spot with the honor thing. "You need to regain your honor? Believe me, I get it. I'm going with you."  
I climbed up near the saddle. "No. I have to do this alone."  
"How are you going to get there? On Emrys? Last time I checked, prisons don't have dragon day cares," he snapped.  
I touched the saddle, knowing he was right. I sighed and looked at Ren hopelessly.  
He stared at me for a long moment before slumping, defeated. "We'll take my war balloon."  
Grateful to have him on my side, I jumped off and followed after him.

Odette:

When I woke up, the place where Ren usually slept beside me was empty.  
I shot up, worried. Had something happed to him? Had Athera come in the night and captured him, hoping to lure me in?  
Before I had too much time to freak out, I got up and followed The Duke as he walked by with an armful of hay.  
He threw it into Emrys's mouth as Kole walked over to us as well. We peered down at Fang sleeping on his back with a piece of crumpled paper in his arm like a blanket. Kole's gloved hand retrieved it as I hovered anxiously beside him. Elise walked over, rubbing her eyes sleepily.  
"What does it say?" she asked.  
"Need meat. Gone fishing," Kole said as he turned the paper and his head as he tried to decipher the handwriting. Relived, I walked back, yawning and flopping onto my sleeping bag. "Back in a few days. Alana and Ren. One more thing. Odette, practice your firebending while I'm gone. Do twenty sets of fire fists and ten hot squats every time you hear a badger frog croak. I love you, be safe. Ren."  
I ignored Kole's dark tone as he read the last part and smiled as I proceeded to fall back asleep.  
A badger frog croaked suddenly and I opened my eyes with irritation and stood up. I loved Ren to death but right now I seriously wanted to drop kick his head.  
"Nobody else has homework," I whined as I proceeded to squat with my hands behind my head. "One hot squat. Two hot squat. Three hot squat. Four hot…"

Ren:

We flew through an area full of clouds.  
I looked up at the burner's flame as it grew bigger for a while before going back to its normal size. I was firebending into the fuel tank with one hand and Alana was resting in the background. We looked at each other and I firebended again.  
It was awkwardly silent and I was desperately wishing I was somewhere else right now. Alana and I stared at each other again before looking away in awkward silence.  
Alana looked up. "Pretty clouds.'  
I raised my head, scrambling for something to say. "Yeah, fluffy."  
I had never been alone with Alana before…or for anyone for that matter. Whenever I had been around my new group, Odette was always by my side. Being without her felt…weird.  
The war balloon sailed through the air. A whistle pierced the silence.  
I turned towards Alana. "What?"  
"What? Oh, I didn't say anything. You know, a friend of mine actually designed these war balloons," she said.  
Nice. "No kidding."  
She nodded. "Yep. A balloon. But for War."  
"There's one thing my Dad's good at," I growled and turned back to the tank and firebended, "it's War."  
"Yeah, it seems to run in the family," she replied nonchalantly.  
Uncle's face flashed through my mind.  
"Hey, hold on. Not everyone in my family is like that," I said defensively.  
"I know, I know, you've changed."  
Actually I was one of the worse in my family…"I meant my Uncle. He was more of a Father to me. And I really let him down."  
Alana looked at me emphatically. "I think your Uncle would be proud of you. Leaving your home to come help us, that's hard."  
I snorted. "It wasn't that hard."  
"Really? You didn't leave behind anyone you cared about?" she asked, surprised.  
"Well I did have a girlfriend. Naveen."  
Alana got closer to me with a surprised look on her face. "That gloomy girl who sighs a lot?"  
I nodded, embarrassed. "Yeah. Everyone in the Fire Nation thinks I'm a traitor. I couldn't drag her into it. Plus…I didn't even like her, at all. I was just using her as my crutch to get over my feelings for Odette which I thought were ridiculous and stupid at the time. Leaving her was actually one of the best thing I ever did for myself."  
Alana leaned back on the basket. "Yeah, you and Odette make a much better couple…My first boyfriend turned into the Moon."  
I looked up and then back at her sadly. "That's rough buddy."

Alana:

Things remained awkward between Ren and I for the rest of the day. We didn't say much.  
Later on in the night as the war balloon sailed in the sky, I fell asleep. It felt like I was woken up only a few minuets later when I heard Ren's voice breaking into my unconsciousness.  
"There it is."  
I awoke instantly and looked around. We were nearing a volcano-like area with steam coming out from it.  
"There's plenty of steam to keep us covered. As long as we're quiet we should be able to navigate through it without being caught," he warned me.  
We entered the steaming crater and I felt my heart start to thumb unsteadily. Ren opened the fuel tank's door and Ren firebended into it. The burner flamed weakly as the war balloon slowly descending into the crater. Inside of the basket, I looked down at the steaming water.  
I glanced at the burner again as it began to lose its power and the balloon rapidly went down into the crater, getting lost through the sea of steam.  
Ren rapidly started to firebend into the tank. "We're going down. The balloon's not working anymore!"  
I frantically rushed to the other side of the basket, fearful we wouldn't land somewhere safe. Ren gave up on the tank of fire and decided to firebend into the vent instead.  
Huh…what do ya know. Odette was right, he was smarter than he looked.  
"The air outside is just as hot as the air inside so we can't fly," I gasped.  
Despite Ren's efforts, the war balloon continued its descend. The basket slanted suddenly and Ren lost his balance.  
"So what are we supposed to do?" he snapped at me, her eyes wide.  
I grabbed onto the tank. "I don't know. Crash landing?"  
The war balloon was dangerously near the water, the basket touching the surface. The water splashed onto my hand and I flailed my hand in pain. It felt like I'd stuck it in an oven filled with boiling water. Where the water touched my skin, red, angry blisters appeared almost immediately. I covered my mouth and struggled not to scream in agony.  
The balloon glided on the water and crashed onto land, shattering the basket into pieces. Both Ren and I got thrown out with our belongings. I looked back to see the vent slowly deflating onto the broken strips of wood and metal. Ren and I got up as I spurted out the sand in my mouth. Both of us slowly turned towards the carnage.  
Ren glanced at me darkly. "How are we gonna get off the island if the balloon won't work?"  
I shrugged. "We'll figure something out. I suspected it might be a one-way ticket."  
Ren glared furiously at me as I walked away. "You knew this would happen and you wanted to come anyway?"  
I walked towards the fallen vent. "My Dad might be here. I had to come and see."  
I proceeded to gather more of the vent and placed them into the broken basket.  
"Uncle always said I never thought things through, but this, ugh," he groaned and grabbed his head before throwing out both of his arms. "This is just crazy."  
I rolled my eyes. He was just mad because I was cutting into his Odette time…which I could understand but it was still his fault he was stuck here with me.  
I threw the fallen cloth into the basket and turned back to Ren sharply. "Hey! I never wanted you to come along in the first place. And for the record, I always think things through. But my plans haven't exactly worked, so this time I'm playing it by ear. So there."  
I pushed the basket but yelped as my hand automatically withdrew since the basket scorched me. Furious and irritated by getting burned again, I proceeded to kick it. The broken balloon slowly sank into the water.  
Ren's eyes were as wide as dinner plates. "What are you doing?"  
"It doesn't work anyway. And we don't want anyone to find it," I growled.  
"I hope you know what you're doing," he sighed as both of us turned around. "There's no turning back now."  
He was right.  
I gulped as I started up at the huge metal building hidden behind the steam.

Ren:

By the next day, Alana and I had found a dark room with lights only illuminating the shelves full of helmets, shoulder pads and boots. Outside of the door, we stood clad in prison guard uniforms making adjustments and preparing for what was about to come.  
"I hope these disguises work," I growled at her. I was still pretty ticked off that she had not only put both our lives at risk, but she had also not thought of a plan.  
Alana waved her hand at me. "We just need to lay low and find my Dad as soon as possible."  
The corridor was suddenly filled with running guards. Alana and I grinned nervously, hoping that we wouldn't be noticed.  
A guard stopped at the opening of the corridor to address us. "Guards! There's a scuffle in the yard, come on."  
Keeping up our charade, Alana and I ran behind the last of their group. We followed the running guards towards a mass of people wearing red in the yard. The prisoners were forming a circle around two people in the center as they circled round each other. The guards shoved the spectating prisoners aside. I spotted a prisoner and a guard in the center as the guards - us among them - attempted to form a barricade in front of the crowd.  
"I didn't do anything. I'm going back to my cell," the prisoner in the center growled. He was a big beefy looking man with a small mustache and beady green eyes and tattoos covering his massive arms.  
He walked away from the guard who firebended a whip and lashed it near the man's legs.  
"Stop right there Massimo," the bully guard snarled.  
I had known the treatment of the prisoners here was cruel and abusive…but I had never imagined it to be like this. Furious with the man's mistreatment, I started to walk forward, trying to interfere but Alana gripped onto my elbow, her slender fingers digging into me.  
"We can't blow our cover," she whispered, her voice low as she stared straight ahead. Grudgingly, I stayed by her side and watched Massimo as the guard approached him from behind.  
"I've had it with your unruly behavior."  
Massimo turned back to the guard. "What did I do?'  
"He wants to know what he did," the guard yowled with laughter and turns towards me and Alana. "Isn't that cute?"  
He looked back at Massimo as the we stared at him in silence. The guard sensed something suspicious and raised his visor to inspect us.  
Alana's eye looked toward me nervously as I responded. "Uh, yeah, very cute sir."  
Alana nodded and grinned. "Super cute."  
The guard smiled satisfactorily at our answers and walked back towards Massimo. Inside, I deflated in relief, my heart hammering a mile a minute.  
"You didn't bow down when I walked by Massimo," the guard yelled.  
Massimo was outraged and rightfully so. "What? That's not a prison rule."  
The guard stared up at Massimo since he was dwarfed by the prisoners great height. He could have squashed the guard like a bug.  
"Do it," the guard snapped.  
Massimo protested defiantly. "Make me."  
The crowd looked on at the commotion while the guard smirked and walked away from Massimo. He then proceeded to firebend another whip. The whip traveled towards Massimo who turned around and firebended the whip and directed it back to the guard. The guard kicked the flame aside and shook his head.  
"Tsk, tsk. Firebending is prohibited," he hissed as Massimo remained in his stance. "You're going in the Cooler."  
The prisoner dropped his position as the guard suddenly pointed to Alana. "You! Help me take him in."  
Alana bristled next to me and I gently nudged her with my elbow. She snapped out of it and stepped forward.  
"Meet back here in an hour," she whispered to me before taking off.  
I mentally groaned.  
Perfect.

Alana:

The three of us walked away from the crowd and entered the large metal building. As we walked in, my gaze traveled upward and zeroed in on the bumps of the metal building which must have been the coolers.  
I gulped slightly as we entered the building and the sunlight disappeared behind us.  
I followed the abusive guard to a corridor somewhere within the prison as Massimo was led to a cooler with 2 security doors. I opened them and water vapor gushed out. Goosebumps erupted over my flesh as the vapor touched my exposed skin. It was so cold it felt like it was actually burning me…and I was outside of the cooler! I finished opening the doors and stepped away as quickly as possible, shuddering at the thought of anybody having to be suck in there.  
The Bully Guard shoved Massimo roughly inside, making him fall face-first. "The Warden will deal with you soon."  
Sadly, I closed the two doors again.  
"Can you believe this guy?" the guard asked me, like he was the most innocent person in the world and the prisoner was nothing but a lowlife trouble maker.  
It took all my restraint to not let my temper flare. I brushed it off and got into the act. "Prisoners. Am I right?"  
The bully guard rolled his eyes. "Ugh. Tell me about it."

Ren:

I walked around fro a bit after Alana left and then came across what appeared to be a lounge or something. A guard was sitting outside the door on a bench with his helmet off, reading something. He let me pass without issue and I walked inside, a little hesitant. The inside of the lounge wasn't very full…only 3three guards were there, eating their meals with their helmets off as they laughed.  
Thinking up a strategy, I walked over to a buffet table and grabbed my food, hoping they would notice and call me over to join them. As I scooped up a helping of what looked like mashed potatoes, one of the male guards called to me.  
"Hey new guy. I know it's the rule to have your helmet on at all times but this is the lounge. Relax," he laughed.  
Maybe it was a mistake coming in here…  
"But what if there's an incident? If I'm not prepared someone could strike me on the head," I argued as I walked toward the table as the guards laughed.  
The only female guard looked at her comrades and smirked. "Give it a week, he'll loosen up."  
She spoke in a gruff voice that surprised me. She was a pretty middle-aged woman with long brown hair and mouse brown eyes. Her face had one ugly scar that ruined her features. The scar went all the way from the corner of her eye and trailed down her face, traveling down her slim throat and disappearing into her uniform. It was a very odd scar and I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to her.  
I set my plate down and sat with them. "Can the new guy ask you veterans a few questions about the prison?"  
"No, you can't date the female guards," the woman said, teasing.  
Eh…  
The male guard to my the left leaned over and nudged me. "Trust me, you don't want to."  
A cup suddenly flew past my face and hit the guard in the head while the woman smiled smugly at him. The guard behind him laughed loudly, rum dripping off his mustache as he choked on his drink  
I ignored them and tried to get their attention again. "No, that's not it. The Boiling Rock, it holds the Fire Nation's most dangerous criminals right? So what about war prisoners?"

Alana:

I watched as the ceiling of the cooler blew cold air in.  
Massimo shivered and held his legs close to his body for warmth. A shadow is seen peering into the cooler. Cut to a front shot of Massimo as he continues to shiver from the cold.  
"It sure looked cold in there," I commented, wishing I could help him.  
"That's why we call it the Cooler," the bully guard hissed rudely as Massimo continued to shiver. "He won't be firebending in there." The guard looked at the end of the corridor and suddenly pulled down his visor. "It's the Warden. Look alive."  
I pulled away from the cooler and we stood at attention at both sides of the door. The warden came walk by with a serious look on his face.  
He was an nasty looking man with narrowed eyes that were brown and muddy. His face was square shaped with high cheekbones…vaguely looking Indian. His log brown hair fell in a smooth mass down to his shoulders and was arranged neatly, a crown-like object atop his head, identifying him as the warden. His skin was an ugly, tanned color and was winkled and leathery. His lips were rather large and were a main feature on his face as well as his broad, flat nose.  
We bowed respectfully to him and I opened the door to the cooler and the warden walked in.  
"So Massimo, I hear you used firebending to try to escape. You should know better," the warden growled.  
Massimo shivered and struggled to talk. "I-I-I-I wa-wasn-n-n-'t t-t-trying to esc-c-c-cape.  
"He's lying," the bully guard suddenly snarled, looking in. "I saw him with my own eyes."  
The warden's guard pushed him away while the warden continued to ignore him.  
"No one has ever, ever escaped from here. I'd sooner jump in the boiling lake myself than let that record fall," the warden said in a deep, gravelly voice, his eyes furrowing threateningly. "Don't forget it. Now go back to your shivering."  
Massimo looked at the warden as the door closed, leaving him in the dark. He shivered and lowered his head down.

Ren:

I traveled along the railing of a tower, heading for the yard at the bottom of the gondola tower. Below, the prisoners were roaming about, most hunched over and miserable. There was a large fire nation insignia stenciled in middle of the yard.  
A guard with long, thick dark hair was leaning on the railing of a tower, looking down. Pretty sure it was Alana but not wanting to risk it, I sauntered over and stopped next to her.  
"Hey there, fellow guard. How goes it?" I asked uncertainly.  
The guard raised her visor, revealing sparkling blue eyes that were hard to miss. "Ren?"  
Idiot! She could have just blown my cover. If she got caught that was bad…but if I got caught it would be ten times worse for me because I was considered a traitor here and not just a normal enemy.  
I raised my finger to my mouth sharply.  
"Shh. Listen, I asked around the lounge. There are no Water Tribe prisoners." I said and raised my visor. "I'm afraid your Father's not here."  
Alana was in shock. "What? Are you sure? Did you double check?"  
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure."  
"No." She murmured, breathing heavily, looking like she was about to start crying. She held her head in despair as she walked towards a wall. "No!"  
She slammed her fist against the wall in frustration, one tear leaking down her cheek sadly.  
"I'm really sorry Alana," I said, feeling my heart clench slightly for her. I couldn't imagine what it was like losing a father…all I knew was what it felt like to lose my Uncle - who may as well have been my father anyways - so I supposed I kind of understood her pain.  
"So we came all this way for nothing. I failed," she said, leaning on the wall. "Again."  
"Err," I held my chin in thought, uncomfortable. "What would Uncle say?"  
I looked to the sky and stared at the clouds. They were pretty, reflecting the silvery light in in beautiful ways.  
I got an idea.  
"Sometimes clouds have two sides, a dark and light. And a silver lining in between. It's like a silver sandwich. So...when life seems hard…" Alana looked to the side and her eyes widen suddenly, "take a bite out of the silver sandwich."  
Alana smiled and rushed to the railing. "Maybe we haven't failed after all."  
"That's the spirit. I can't believe that worked," I murmured, folding my arms across my chest proudly. "I didn't even know what I was saying."  
"No, what you said made no sense at all. But look," she said and pointed. "It's Tarren!"  
I followed her finger to see Tarren sitting on a rock looking bored.  
"Prisoners!" A guard bellowed as a bell rang through the yard as Tarren got up. "Back in your cells!"  
I glanced at Alana who was practically drooling and bounding up and down. I wouldn't have been surprised if her eyes turned heart shaped and started blinking comically. She lowered her visor as she rushed off, leaving me standing there confused.

Alana:

I headed straight to the prisoners housing area, having got the information on Tarren from a frighteningly helpful male guard. A guard was mopping the floor and another one doing his rounds. I found the door to his cell and opened, illuminating his face as his eyes looked to the door. He was lying stretched out on the bed, bored. Tarren sat up as I closed the door and stood in front of him.  
"What is it?" he growled and sat up straight on his bed, looking at me. "Did I do something wrong?"  
I crossed my arms teasingly. "You mean you don't recognize me?"  
"You people all look the same to me," he snapped and looked to the side.  
I looked on smugly. "Oh. Then maybe you'll recognize this."  
I pursed my lips and attempted smooching sounds. Tarren suddenly grabbed my chin and pushed me to the door. My back slammed into the door roughly as the helmet fell off my head. I blinked up in surprise at the sudden violence.  
Tarren remained in his stance as a look of relief washed over his face as he recognized me.  
"Alana," he gasped and ran to me. "It's you!"  
Tarren kneeled down next to me and wrapped his arms around me tightly. I smiled and hugged him back, breathing in his warm familiar scent. I hadn't realized how much I had missed him and tears started to form in my eyes. Tarren was also tearing a little bit.  
Both of us stood up, still holding each other. "The other Kyoshi Warriors, are they here?"  
"No," he said looking worried. "I don't know where they are. They locked me here because I'm the leader."  
I nodded and reached up a hand to touch his handsome face. "Well, you won't be here for long, I'm busting you out."  
"I'm so glad to see you Alana. I knew you'd come," he said warmly, holding on to my hand that was touching his face. He pulled it away briefly and kissed my palm.  
I smiled and we lowered our hands into another hug. We looked in each other's eyes for a moment as we leaned in for a kiss.  
I sighed in annoyance as I heard Ren - who was outside guarding the door - knock on the cell to warn us. Inside of the cell Tarren and I broke apart from the kiss. Outside, I could hear a female guard approaching.  
"'Scuse me, I need to get into that cell."  
"No, you can't go in there," Ren replied. "The lights are out... the prisoner could sneak up on you."  
"Step aside, fool." She tries to push Ren aside but he grabbed her arm and threw her against the wall. "Hey! Hey! What are you doing?"  
Ugh! What was he doing! We were so screwed now!  
The female guard maneuvered her way around and threw Ren against the cell door. Inside of the cell, Tarren and I sat down against the door, looking up at the opening and hearing the commotion. I put on my helmet, knowing my time had run out. I kissed him once more goodbye and then slipped out of the cell door.  
Outside, I saw that Ren was trying to balance himself as he attempted to push the female guard down. The female guard tried to elbow Ren's chin before she looked to the side at me.  
"Guard," she screeched as I tried to get away. "Help! I think he's an imposter!" I cringed as I turned around. "Argh! Arrest him!"  
With an unreadable expression on my face I turned around.  
The Female Guard was furious. "Get him off me and arrest him!"  
I stared at the situation my mind blanking. One they discovered that Ren was here, he would be tortured definitely. Or worse…shipped back to his father. Oh man Odette was going to kill me dead.  
Not knowing what else to do, I slowly walked forward and grabbed Ren's arm and threw him against the floor.  
"You're under arrest!" I helped Ren to his feet and whispered in his ear. "Don't worry, I'll figure it out."  
grim, I lead him away while the female guard massaged her sore shoulder.

Ren:

This was bad. This was very, very, very bad.  
I sat alone in a darkened room, now wearing the Boiling Rock's prison uniform. They knew who I was, anyone one would unless they were blind. It would get back to Athera, and then my father. I would be collected and then probably killed by either one or both of them. I wasn't afraid of dying, that wasn't what had me worried. It was Odette.  
Her face flashed in my mind and I felt my heart wrench. How could I leave my sweet, beautiful, wonderful Odette behind? I didn't want to…more than anything I wished I was back at the temple with her right now instead of waiting around to die in a prison cell. I pictured her face, her voice, her laugh, her eyes…everything I could. I preserved my memories of her, hanging onto them for all I was worth, knowing that there was a good chance I would never see her again…  
I heard someone outside and looked up as the door opened and light shone on my face, blinding me briefly. A familiar figure, the warden, was standing at the doorway.  
"Well, well, well. I never thought I'd find you in here, Prince Ren," he growled.  
I narrowed my eyes, challenging him to do something. "How did you know who I am?"  
"How could I not?" He furrowed his eyebrows. "You broke my niece's heart."  
I had been leaning dismissively against the wall and at the mention of Naveen I stood straight, guilt tugging at me.  
"You're Naveen's uncle? I never meant to hurt her," I said guiltily.  
"Quiet! You're my special prisoner now. And you best behave. If these criminals found out who you are, the traitor prince who let his nation down. Why, they'd tear you to shreds," the warden snarled, his eyes glittering with hate. I knew he was right…these prisoners would have my head.  
I folded my arms across my chest and glared. "So what's in it for you? Why don't you just tell my Father and collect the reward."  
The warden smiled darkly. "Oh in due time believe me, I intend to collect."  
He walked out and slammed the door behind him, leaving me in darkness.

Alana:

I hurriedly descended down a flight of stairs, spotting Ren and Tarren mopping the floor under the stairs.  
I crossed my arms when I reached them, surprised. "Oh, good. You guys have met."  
"Actually, we met a long time ago," Tarren said, his voice laced with fury.  
I winced.  
Ren was confused. "We did?"  
"Yeah, you kind of burned down my village," he said and looked at Ren angrily as I put my hand on my helmet in a "You shouldn't have said that" gesture.  
Ren looked up and thought, glancing at Tarren guiltily. "Oh. Sorry about that. Nice to see you again."  
They put their mops against the wall and sat down. I checked my surroundings before joining them.  
"So listen, I think I have an escape plan," I said, facing the two and kneeling while lifting my visor. "I checked out the Coolers again, the whole point of them is to keep firebenders contained, right?"  
Ren looked at me uncertainly. "Yeah…"  
"So they're completely insulated and sealed to keep the cold in. Well to keep the cold in it also has to keep the heat out, right?"  
Tarren rolled his eyes. "Just get to the point Alana."  
"It's a perfect boat for getting through the boiling water," I said. My left arm moved across my body in a fluid motion.  
Ren and Tarren looked at each other skeptically.  
"The cooler as a boat? Are you sure?" Ren asked.  
I nodded. "I'm telling you, it'll work."  
Earlier, I had spent my morning walking around the perimeter of the Boiling Rock, near the water, and had discovered something pretty interesting.  
"I walked around the perimeter. There's a blind spot between two guard towers. It's the perfect launching point. I already tested it out. We'll roll the cooler into the water and just float with the current. It'll take us straight across. As long as we don't make a sound, no one will notice. And bing, bang, boom we're home free!"  
Tarren frowned, his green eyes troubled. "But how are you going to get the cooler out?"  
"Yeah," Massimo's voice sounded and Tarren and Ren were startled as they looked up in alarm. Massimo was eavesdropping on our conversation on the stairs, grinning smugly. "How are you going to get the cooler out?"  
He sailed his body through an area underneath the railing and landed in a crouch near our group.  
I panicked.  
"What?" I started making various gestures and waved my arm dismissively. "We didn't. We... We didn't say that."  
Ren nodded. "Yeah, you heard wrong."  
Massimo glared at him. "I heard you hatching an escape plan and I want in."  
"There's nothing to get in on," Ren growled back.  
"Yeah, the only thing we're hatching is... an egg?" I said. Ren and Tarren sighed at my lame attempt to hide the truth.  
"Ok, well, I come with you or the Warden hears about this egg too," Massimo threatened and I froze. Tarren and Ren both had identical looks of seriousness on their faces.  
Tarren looked to me after a moment. "I guess we have no choice."  
"Okay, you're in. Now, first we need someone to unbolt the Cooler," I said and reached into my pocket before handing a wrench over to Ren. "From the inside."  
Ren nodded and put it into his pocket.  
Massimo grinned, a wicked glint in his eyes. "Oh, I can get you inside."

Ren:

Two guards were leaning on a railing overlooking the mopping area and talking to each other. Massimo walked out and stopped in front of the stairs with his arms crossed. I walked backwards as I mopped the floor and bumped the mop handle into Massimo.  
"Ugh. Hey, what are you, stupid?" Massimo yelled and grabbed onto my shoulders and I did the same as well. "Watch where you're going!"  
We pushed each other and Massimo lifted me off the ground and threw me. I landed with a turn and faced Massimo, glaring darkly.  
"Hey, you watch who you're shoving," I snarled and pushed him.  
Massimo jabbed a finger at my chest. "I think you mean whom I'm shoving."  
We grabbed each others hands as we pretended to struggle fiercely against each other. The other prisoners gathered round and began to cheer. We pushed each other before I broke off and attempted to throw a punch at Massimo. Massimo grabbed my fist and threw me to the ground.  
Alana walked in and raised her voice. "I need backup over here."  
Massimo attempted to body slam me but I somersaulted out of the way. I landed safely and proceeded to firebend. Massimo jumped to avoid the flames from scorching his feet as the guards rushed in.  
"No firebending," a guard snapped and pointed to me. "Into the cooler."  
Two guards immediately rushed in to contain me to the floor. They brought me down hard before picking me up and leading me away. Tarren and Alana stole a glance at each other before they parted ways.

Alana:

I slid the two doors of the cooler open to reveal a figure huddling inside.  
"I can take you back to your cell if you've learned your lesson," I said bleakly.  
Ren lifted his head up and sighed a breath of fire, completely and totally fine. He didn't even had goose bumps and I had to wonder how he'd managed to stay warm.  
"Yes, I have. Completely," he said smugly. He showed the various bolts and nuts he unbolted.  
I smiled and lifted my visor up as I whispered. "I got Tarren and Massimo out of their cells a few minutes ago. They'll be waiting for us at the shore."  
He nodded before his face darkened suddenly. "Someone's coming."  
Ren pulled me in by my shirt and quickly slid the inner door closed.  
Two guards were making their rounds around the cooler corridor.  
"Yeah, new arrivals coming in at dawn," a male guard was saying.  
"Anybody interesting?" a female asked.  
Curious, I opened the door by an inch to listen in to the conversation.  
"Nah, just the usual. Some robbers, couple of traitors, some war prisoners." I froze in shock and looked to Ren. "Though I did hear there might be a pirate."  
"No foolin'."  
Ren was concerned. "War prisoners. It could be your Father."  
Awesome.  
"I know," I sighed and looked away and closed my eyes.  
"Well, what should we do?" Ren shrugged. "Are we going ahead with the plan or are we waiting another night?"  
I shook my head, confused. I looked toward my friend with tears in my eyes. I don't know. Is it right for me to risk Tarren's freedom? All of our freedom on the slim chance that my dad is gonna show up?"  
Ren looked at me evenly, his eyes unwavering as he placed all of his trust on me without hesitation. "It's your call Alana."  
I lowered my gaze and struggled to make a decision.

Ren:

We found Massimo and Tarren waiting for us at the meeting area we had set up. Alana and I used all of our combined body weight to stop the cooler from rolling down the slope rapidly and noisily. Both of the two below rushed up to assist us.  
"Took you guys long enough. This here's my girl and my best buddy. They're coming too," Massimo said, point to a girl waving at us and a guy waiting near the shore.  
Alana looked annoyed and struggled against the weight of the cooler. "Fine, everybody in the cooler. Let's go."  
We turned the cooler into a vertical position. Once that was settled, Alana walked over to a rock. She lifted it to reveal her Water Tribe clothing hidden underneath.  
Tarren and I looked on.  
"Are you sure you want to go?" I asked her and walked over to her as she slung her sword. "You're the one who said you wanted to redeem yourself. Redeem your honor. Rescuing your Dad is your chance."  
I knew she wanted to stay more than anything. It was just Tarren and me that were weighing her down. Well whatever she decided, I planned on sticking by her side.  
Tarren was shocked and walked towards Alana. "Your Dad?"  
Alana looked up at us in desperation. "If I had just cut my losses at the invasion, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess. Maybe sometimes it's just better to call it quits before you fail."  
I sighed. "No, it's not. Look Alana, you're going to fail a lot before things work out."  
Alana stood up as she slung her bag over her shoulder while raising her eyebrows. "That's supposed to make me feel better?"  
She walked away.  
"Even though you'll probably fail over and over and over again," I said, insistent as she stopped in her tracks.  
"Seriously, not helping," she snapped, glaring at me over her shoulder.  
Irritated, I grabbed her shoulder. "You have to try every time. You can't quit because you're afraid you might fail."  
"Hey," Massimo snapped, holding onto the cooler. "If you two are done cuddling, can we get a move on?"  
"No, I'm staying." Alana suddenly dropped her bag as she turned around and addressed Tarren and I.  
"You guys go," she said calmly and placed a hand on Tarren's shoulder. "You've been here long enough."  
Tarren shook his head at her and grabbed her hand reassuringly. "I'm not leaving without you, Alana."  
I came over and patted her shoulder. "I'm staying too."  
"Not me, I'm out. Let's roll baby," Massimo said as he pushed the cooler and jumped into it.  
We watched the trio bleakly as they shrank in the distance.  
"We gave up our only chance of escaping," Alana sighed. "I hope we haven't just made a huge mistake."  
It was nearly dawn.  
As the cooler sailed across the water slowly, we made out way back up to the prison. We were almost there, pressing ourselves against the wall to avoid being spotted, when a thunderous scream rang out suddenly, echoing through the entire prison.  
My head snapped toward the water where I could barely make out the shape of the cooler. Massimo must have touched the water.  
The sound of a hammer hitting a bell sounded from the bell tower as the warden appeared.  
"Guards! Secure the perimeter and lock down the prisoners. Now!" he shouted and a line of guards ran down the platform hurriedly.  
Alana was fuming. "The plan failed! They're caught."  
Good thing we stayed…  
Panicked, we slowly made our way across the narrow platform as the warden's voice continued to shout orders.  
"Get the fugitives and throw them in the Cooler!"  
"Uh, they are in the cooler sir," a guard said, confused.  
The warden raised his voice towards the guard furiously. "One that's bolted down and not floating in the water! This is a lockdown! We have new prisoners arriving! Everything must be completely secure!"  
After a moment, a huge crossbow on a large metal contraption was lowered. The bolt was released and it pierced the cooler violently and started reeling it in.  
As the cooler slowly sailed across the water, back to the Boiling Rock, Alana and the rest of us were worriedly looking at the gondola. Alana had her back pressed against a wall and she peered out carefully.  
"The gondola's moving," she said, unable to contain the excitement and anxiety in her voice.  
I studied the outside of said gondola as it slowly made its way to the tower.  
Alana clenched her fists. "This is it."  
The gondola sailed into the tower and docked. There were shadows of various people inside.  
Alana breathed out heavily. "If my Dad's not there, we risked everything for nothing."  
Tarren hugged her from behind gently. "We had to."  
I glanced worriedly at Alana's anxious face. "Come on, come on."  
A guard opened the door of the gondola. A big, burly man with shaggy long hair, a long beard, a nose ring and a tattoo on his arm walked out handcuffed.  
"Is that him?" I asked.  
Alana looked back at me like I was insane. "My Dad doesn't have a nose ring."  
I gave her a sarcastic look before returning my gaze tot eh outside of the bridge as various prisoners filed past. None of them were Kodah.  
Alana's blue eye stayed glued at the scene. "Where is he?"  
A shirtless man with a topknot walked out of the gondola. No one followed behind him.  
Alana was looking on with disbelief. "That's it? That can't be it."  
'I'm sorry Alana," Tarren sighed.  
"Oh no," she lowered her head in dismay.  
"Hey you," A guard suddenly shouted and Alana opened her eyes and we all looked up. "Get off the gondola."  
Alana waited nervously in anticipation as a covered foot stepped out of the gondola. It was a man with dark brown almost black hair, tanned, slightly weathered skin, and crystal blue eyes.  
Alana widened her eyes.  
"Dad."


	15. Chapter 15: The Escape

Alana:

I made for the pentagonal perimeter. The warden was there, walking up an down, trying to intimidate his new prisoners.  
"Line them up for the Warden!" a guard yelled.  
Guards surround the perimeter and the prisoners filed in one by one into a straight line. I looked at the end of the line as the last few prisoners walked in, my father at the very end. I ran to the scene and pulled up my visor.  
"Dad." I rushed from the stairs and nudged some guards aside. "Excuse me, coming through. The Warden wants me over there sorry."  
I stood behind a line of guards taller than me who were near the prisoners. The warden walked towards the prisoners. As he spoke, the warden strolled slowly down the line.  
"Welcome to The Boiling Rock. I'm sure you've all heard the horrible rumors about our little island. Well I just want to tell you that they don't have to be true." He stopped in front of my father who was looking down. "As long as you do everything I say. Look me in the eye when I'm talking to you."  
"No," Dad said defiantly as his eyes traveled to the side.  
"Oh, you'd rather look at my shoes? Then take a look!"  
The warden used his foot and pulled down Dad's handcuff to the floor, dragging him into a kneeling position. I gaped in surprise…no one had ever brought my father down like that before. I stared in shock at my Dad's angry face as the warden's boot remained on his handcuff.  
"I know exactly who you are, Kodah of the Water Tribe. So strong willed. But don't worry, we'll get rid of that in time. Now look me in the eye."  
Dad slowly lifted his head up with hate.  
"See? Isn't that better." The warden looked to the other prisoners and started to walk off. "You will all do as I say or pay the price. You will all-"  
Dad suddenly tilted his handcuffs as the warden's boot got caught in them and he lost his balance and fell face first tot eh ground. I snickered as the guards in front of me rushed to the warden's aid.  
Two guards ran to the warden as he and Kodah stood up on their own.  
"Are you okay, Sir?" one of them asked.  
The warden lashed out. "I'm fine! Get these prisoners out of my sight!"  
I stayed where I was standing at as I saw the prisoners being directed down a flight of stairs. I turned and walked off, heading to the prisoners housing area. I followed them to figure out which cell my father was in and once the coast was clear I headed down, bubbling with excitement.  
When I opened the door, I found my father sitting on a mattress. The light on his face diminished as the door closed behind me.  
"Thank goodness you're okay," I breathed as I walked towards my father.  
He stood up on the mattress rapidly with his fist out in an attacking position, looking deathly serious. "If you take one step closer you'll see just how okay I am."  
I laughed and lifted my visor, pointing to myself. "Dad, it's me."  
He lowered his arm and started to tear up. "Alana, my daughter."  
I removed my helmet and dropped it on the floor as we hugged. We parted after a few seconds.  
"You know Alana, you should be more careful with that guard outfit on. I almost punched you in the gut," he laughed.  
"Yeah," I giggled, rubbing my neck as I recalled my encounter with Tarren. "I ran into that problem earlier."

Massimo:

I sat in a empty room with my arms strapped to a chair.  
The metal cell door slid open as the warden walked in. My eyes widened and I shrunk slightly, terrified.  
"Are you comfortable Massimo?" the warden asked calmly, walking around me.  
"If you're trying to get me to talk, forget it. I'm not a squealer," I growled.  
The warden's head turned slightly to look at his prisoner. "Massimo, I only asked you if you were comfortable."  
"Well, yeah," I said, smiling slightly as I relaxed. "Actually, I am pretty comfortable."  
The warden proceeded to kick the back of the chair as it fell and I groaned as my face hit the hard floor.  
"Are you still comfortable?"  
My eyes looked up. "No."  
"I know you and your cronies are not smart enough to come up with that little escape plan. So you're gonna tell me. Who is?"  
The warden walked off as 2 pairs of boots appeared. The guards lifted my chair back into position. One of the guard proceeded to close the door.

Alana:

I looked through the opening of Dad's cell door, making sure no guards were coming. Ren wasn't here to save my butt this time.  
"So where's Cato? Where's everyone else from the invasion?" I asked.  
Dad was sitting on the floor, looking at me. "The others are being held at a prison near the Fire Nation palace. They singled me out as their leader and sent me here."  
I walked back and sat beside my Dad.  
"But before I left I met some young men who said they knew you. The Yoshinama Fighters?" he said, unsure.  
I brightened. "You mean the Kyoshi Warriors?"  
He nodded. "That's right."  
"Their leader Tarren is here and he's gonna escape with us," I said.  
"Good," he laid a hand on my shoulder. "We'll need all the help we can get.'  
I winced slightly as I mentioned the other member of our group. "And you know Prince Ren?"  
"The son of the Firelord? I don't know him, but I knew of him," he replied.  
"Well, he's here too."  
Dad crossed his arms and started to think. "Sounds like a major problem."  
"Actually, he's on our side now." Dad looked at me skeptically. "I know, I had the same reaction. After all he has done, it was hard to trust him. He and Odette are actually together now…like together, together. Plus he's really proven himself and I never would have found you without his help."  
He was surprised for a moment before he nodded his head in understanding.  
"So, do you have a plan?" he asked.  
I looked away. "We had one but some of the other prisoners got involved and ruined it." I set my head on my knees in despair. "I don't know if there's another way off this island."  
I had my dad back, but there was a good chance we would be stuck here forever. Ren would be shipped away and probably killed soon…time was not on our side.  
"Alana," Dad said and patted my back. "There's no prison in the World that can hold two Water Tribe geniuses."  
"Then we'd better find two."  
Dad laughed and after a moment I joined in as well. We talked for a few more minutes and came up with the best plan I had ever come up with before. When we hashed out all the details, I decided it was time to go. I needed to talk to Ren anyways and update him. I said goodbye and made for my friend's cell.  
I walked towards the first door from a flight of stairs and leaned against the door and raised my visor.  
"Ren, are you there?" I asked.  
Ren's golden brown eyes appeared at the door's opening. "I'm here."  
Relief crashed over me.  
"I just got done talking to my Dad. We came up with an escape plan together," I said.  
"What are you doing here?" a male guard suddenly snarled and I jumped a foot in the air, startled.  
I lowered my visor and turned to the stairs to see a male and female guard staring down at me.  
I jabbed a finger at the door, thinking fast. "I was just telling this dirty lowlife what I think of him!"  
The male guard glared at me, looking serious. "Well, you'll have to do that later, he's coming with us."  
I looked to Ren's cell door and back, worried. "Why?"  
The female guard held her arms akimbo. "Because we have orders straight from the Warden. That's why."  
I smiled slightly. "Could I just get ten more seconds to rough him up a bit?"  
I punched my right fist into my left palm.  
The female guard crossed her arms and leaned against the railing. "Fine, ten seconds."  
The male guard crossed his arms as well.

Ren:

Alana entered the cell and I lifted up a pillow that had been lying on my cot. I held it in front of me as she started punching it.  
"Take that! And this!" she yelled loudly.  
"Newbie," I heard the male guard say in amusement.  
Alana's fists continued to punch the rolled up mattress as I pretended to grunt in pain whenever she struck.  
She started to whisper as she punched. "We have a new plan but it's gonna need a big distraction. Be in the yard in one hour."  
The door began to open as I froze, caught off guard. Unsure of what to do, Alana lunged at my head as I dropped the mattress and she attempted to choke me.  
"Alright, that's enough," the male guard growled as he pushed Alana off and gave her a warning finger. They latched onto my arms and led me out of my cell. As I was being led away, I glanced at Alana and nodded my head slightly.  
Once she was out of my sight, I turned hostile to my two guards.  
"What are you doing? Where are you taking me?" I snapped, furious.  
They ignored me as I struggled against them. I was dragged to the inside of another cell as it opened and the guards shoved me in. There was nothing in the room but a chair which I landed on it. Gripping the chair's arms, I pulled myself up and looked back at the guards furiously.  
"I didn't do anything wrong," I hissed.  
"Come on Ren," a familiar voice said and my head snapped to the side as I looked to the source of the voice. Naveen was standing with her head down at the corner of the room. She looked up at me and walked into the light. "We all know that's a lie."  
"Naveen!" I gasped in surprise.  
Still on the floor, I stared up at Naveen as she looked on with her arms crossed furiously.  
I hated my life.

Massimo:

I looked up at the warden who was upside down.  
"How is he?" he asked the two guards who were holding my chair upside down. I was red in the face as blood rushed to my head due to gravity. My skull felt like it was going to explode and I was sweating from the effort it took to not cry out in pain.  
"I think he's ready to talk," a guard said smugly.  
The two guards threw the chair back into its original position. I was still panting and perspiring profusely. My face slowly faded back to its normal shade as the warden approached me from behind.  
The warden bended his head to my shoulder. "Have you had enough time to think about what I asked?"  
"Yes."  
"And?"  
"You're right. There was another person involved in the escape plan."  
The warden placed a hand on my shoulder. "Who?"  
"It's a guy who's disguised like a prison guard, only he's not a prison guard. He's the mastermind. He came up with the plan."  
The warden patted my head and walked away.

Ren:

I sat down in a chair with my head down guiltily. Naveen leaned against the wall silently, glaring daggers at me with her piercing eyes. The guilt I felt over what I had done to her was eating away at me and actually seeing her again only made it worse.  
"How did you know I was here?" I asked.  
Naveen looked at me angrily. "Because I know you so well."  
Confused I looked up to her. "But... how?"  
Naveen scoffed and looked to the side. "The Warden's my Uncle you idiot."  
Of course! I was such an idiot!  
I brought my hand to my forehead and groaned.  
"The truth is," Naveen's glove hand appeared in front of me and she unrolled a letter. "I guess I don't know you. All I get is a letter? You could have at least looked me in the eye when you ripped out my heart."  
I looked at her apologetically. "I didn't mean to-"  
Naveen interrupted. "You didn't mean to?" She walked behind me to read out the contents of the letter. "Dear Naveen, I'm sorry that you have to find out this way, but we can't see each other anymore. I'm leaving you and the Fire Nation."  
"Stop!" I snarled harshly and looked back at Naveen. "This isn't about you. This is about the Fire Nation."  
"Thanks Ren. That makes me feel all better," she hissed as she threw the letter at my head. I grabbed my head and rubbed the spot she threw the letter at.  
"Naveen, I never wanted to hurt you," I sighed as I got up from my chair and faced Naveen. "But I have to do this to save my country."  
"Save it? You're betraying your country."  
"That's not how I see it.'  
Naveen folded her arms and turned to the side sulkily.  
I knew I had to say it…she had to know why I had left her the way I did.  
"Naveen I'm so sorry for everything I've done to you. I'm even more sorry for the things you don't know about," I said, wincing.  
Her eyes blazed and she whipped on me.  
"What did you!" she snarled.  
I fixed her with a calm, steady gaze as I said the things I had been dying to say to her since day one. "I don't love you, I never did. I love Odette. It's always been Odette."  
Grief clouded her eyes briefly before her rage and fury retuned ten fold.  
"That little Avatar brat! You picked that disgusting, ugly, little wench over me!" she screeched, her fingers curling into claws.  
I bristled as she insulted her but I held my tongue and merely nodded, grim.  
I barely had time to blink before her hand cracked across the side of my face.

Alana:

I opened the door to Tarren's cell as he practiced a series of turns and punches. He ended up with one leg in the air, his foot right in my face. He lowered his leg as I smiled at him.  
"Alana," he said as I looked at the opening of Tarren's door. "What's going on?"  
"I don't have much time. If I'm seen with you the guards might think something's up," I explained as I looked out the doors opening. I lowered my visor before pushing it back up again. "I just talked to my Dad."  
Tarren smiled. "That's great."  
I nodded. "Yeah and we're escaping today. On the gondola."  
"What?" he gasped, confused.  
"My dad and I came up with a plan together. We're gonna commandeer the gondola and we're gonna take a hostage with us so they won't cut the lines," I said as I placed both my hands on his shoulders.  
Tarren shook his head and lowered my arms, holding my hands tightly in his. "We'll never make it onto the gondola. There's too many guards."  
"My dad already thought of that. He said we'll need a distraction. That's why we're gonna start a prison riot."  
He looked skeptical. "Okay. Let's say by some miracle this all works and we make it on the gondola. The Warden will still just cut the lines, even if we have a captive."  
"Not if the Warden is the captive." A sound from outside the cell stopped our conversation. I peered at the opening and spotted two guards. "I have to go."  
Tarren rushed over and hugged me to him tightly.  
"I'll find you before we start the riot,' I said, hugging him back.  
I opened the cell door and I snuck out, swiftly closing the door along the way.  
"Hey you!" a guard yelled and I froze as two guards walked over. "The Warden wants to see you."  
I turned back, my heart hammering in my chest. "Why?"  
"I don't know. I didn't ask."  
"Maybe I could schedule another time with him? How's tomorrow?" I said and walked off.  
"He wants to see you, now," the male guard said as the two other guards held my hands behind my back painfully and led me away.  
Not good.  
They took me outside where a line of guards stood in front of the Warden.  
When the warden saw me he narrowed his eyes and jabbed a finger at the end of the line. "Put him in the line up."  
Someone yanked my helmet off my head and then shoved me into the line of other guards also without their helmets. I lost my balance and brushed up against another guard as he pushed me back to position. My eyes were widen in shock and fear as my heart pounded and blood roared in my ears, my breathing choppy. Terrified, I attempted to hide behind the other guard but the guard nudged me away roughly.  
The warden began to speak as Massimo was suddenly led to the front of the line up "One of you is an imposter who thought he could fool me. But now that person is going to be in a lot of trouble. Who is it?"  
My eyes widened in fear as Massimo's eyes opened tiredly. I started shaking nervously on the spot as he blinked and narrowed his eyebrows. Not wanting to see what was coming, I squeezed my eyes shut in terror.  
"That's him," I opened my eyes and was surprised to see Massimo jabbing a beefy finger at the guard who tormented him. "Warden. He's the imposter."  
The bully guard was outraged as the warden smiled nastily.  
"What? I am not. He's lying!" Massimo raised both hands nonchalantly as the bully guard was dragged off. "He's a liar!"  
The rest of the guards looked on as Massimo smiled since he got even with the bully guard. I looked on and sighed with relief, feeling ready to pass out.

Athera:

I stood in the opening of a dark room with sunlight streaming into it, watching the scene before me in amusement.  
A guard was strapped to a chair in prisoner garb, sweating in fear.  
"I'm telling you, it wasn't me!" he cried.  
"Save your breath. I know you've been working together." The warden came close to the guard's face. "You threw Massimo in the very cooler they used to escape. It was all part of your plan."  
"That was just a coincidence."  
I always knew I liked Naveen's uncle. His cruelty was amusing in so many ways.  
"Sir, there's someone to see you," a guard who was standing next to me said.  
The warden turned his head to the door. "Who told you to interrupt me!"  
His eye widened as he realized it was me standing at the doorway. The guards bowed down in respect.  
"I did," I growled darkly as Kenna smirked from behind me.  
With my arms akimbo, I watched him squirm, delighted by my little game.  
"Princess Athera. Uh, it is an honor to welcome you to the Fire Nation's most exemplary prison. I didn't realize you were coming," he said hurriedly as Kenna and I marched in.  
I walked in some more and looked to the guard. "Who is this?"  
The guard looked at the warden and then looked away as the warden spoke. "He's a guard who was involved in a recent and feeble escape attempt."  
Knowing that Koda, a water tribe leader was here, I was guessing his children were as well. I enjoyed the warden's methods…but he was quite foolish.  
"It wasn't me!" the guard snapped.  
"Quiet you," the warden hissed as he stabbed his finger to the guard.  
"You're wasting your time," I snorted as I turned and walked to the door. "That's not one of them."  
The warden was stunned. "How do you know?"  
"Because I'm a people person."  
I walked out and closed the door behind me, determined to find my little water tribe peasants.

Alana:

I headed for the guard in a control room, bracing myself.  
I took a breath, steadied myself, and approached confidentially. "Hey, I just got orders. Let the prisoners out into the yard."  
The guard crossed arms suspiciously. "But we're in the middle of lockdown."  
"Oh, okay," I replied sarcastically and waved my hand dismissively and walked off. "I'll just go tell the Warden you said that. I'm sure he'll be glad to hear about you undermining his authority." The guard raised his visor and I comically walked back, raising my visor as well. "What's your name again?"  
The guard perspired nervously as I disappeared again.  
The guard threw his arm out. "Wait. Don't tell the Warden, I... I'm just a little confused."  
"Hey, I'm confused too." I turned back to the guard. "But the Warden's in a bad mood and irrational. So if you ask me," I put an arm on the guard's shoulder and turned him gently towards the controls, "it's best not to question it and just do what he says."  
"Yeah, you're right." The guard pulled down the various levers as a bell rang off. "We're letting them out."  
The door of each cell opened up floor by floor. The prisoners immediately left their cells and I spotted Tarren and my father rushing out. I made for the yard as the prisoners streamed into it and easily met up with Tarren and my father.  
"This is it. We have to start a riot," I said as they skidded to a stop next to me.  
"Okay, but how do we do that?" Tarren asked.  
Dad looked to the side at a group of prisoners, smirking slyly.  
"I'll show you," he said and walked off.  
He ran over to the group and shoved the back of a big, burly prisoner.  
"Hey, why did you do that for? That hurt my feelings," he said.  
Both Dad and I stared at him in disbelief. "Aren't you mad at me?"  
"Uhh, well normally I would be, but I've been working to control my anger," he replied and I slapped my forehead.  
"This isn't working."  
A hand landed on my shoulder and I stiffened.  
"Hey you. You're lucky I didn't rat you out. But my generosity comes with a price. I know you're planning another escape attempt and I want in," Massimo said.  
I was actually relieved to see him  
"Actually, we're trying to escape right now. But we need a riot." I pointed to him and quirked an eyebrow. "You wouldn't happen to know how to start one would you?"  
"A prison riot? Please." He pushed me aside and grabbed another prisoner by his shirt as the prisoner shrieked. Massimo as he carried the prisoner over his head.  
"Hey!" he bellowed and hoisted the prisoner up and down. "Riot!"  
The yard immediately broke into chaos as flames were bended all over the place.  
Dad and I stared dumb founded in the background.  
"Impressive," Dad said, nodding approvingly.  
Tarren and I looked at each other and grinned.  
"Forget about controlling my anger. Let's riot!" the prisoner Dad shoved earlier shouted.  
A prisoner jumped over and knocked him down. On the floor of the yard, chaos and dust ensued everywhere. A prisoner was sitting on another prisoner's shoulders, attempting to choke him.  
The escape had begun.

Ren:

A guard suddenly appeared and took a stance at the doorway of the room Naveen and I were still in.  
She had been screaming at me for an hour now and I just hoped it would be time for Alana's plan soon so I could get out of here. She had screamed herself horse only a few moments ago.  
"Ma'am, there's a riot going on. I'm here to protect you," the guard said.  
Naveen's turned around tiredly. "I don't need any protection."  
I laughed slightly. "Hah, believe me. She doesn't."  
The guard walked into the room. "I'm sorry but I'm under direct orders from your Uncle to make sure nothing happens."  
Well…this was it. Goodbye Naveen.  
I took the chance and firebended at the guard's feet and rushed out of the room. The guard attempted to shield Naveen from the fire, throwing his self in front of her.  
Naveen was enraged. "Get off of me!"  
She threw the guard to the side and ran to the door. As she ran towards the exit, I slid the door shut, locking her inside. Safely on the outside of the door, I meddled with the lock. I looked up to see Naveen's eyes staring at me through the opening, furious, glittering slits. I stared back for a moment then closed my eyes guiltily and rushed off as Naveen continued to look at me through the opening.

Alana:

Massimo, Dad, Tarren, and I were standing at the bottom of another tower, trying to stay out of the chaos as we waited for the final member of our group.  
Just when I was starting to worry, Ren came bursting though the crowd and threw a guard who attempted to subdue him over his shoulder. He ran in front of me and skidded to a halt.  
"Ren, good. We're all here," I smiled in relief and pointed to the top of another tower where the warden was. "Now all we need to do is grab the Warden and get to the gondolas."  
Ren frowned. "And how do we do that?"  
I looked back at him, puzzled. "I'm not sure."  
"Argh, I thought you thought this through!" he hissed.  
I flailed my arms at him in hysterics. "I thought you told me it's okay not to think everything through!"  
Ren had his fists clenched as he yelled at me. "Maybe not everything. But this is kind of important."  
He grabbed his head while I put my finger on my chin in thought.  
Massimo tapped me on the shoulder. "Hey, uhh, fellas. I think your boyfriend's taking care of it."  
I peered from behind Massimo's elbow in surprise.  
As a guard and a prisoner scuffled, Tarren ran into the fray and jumped on their heads. He moved swiftly and nimbly across the sea of prisoners' heads with ease. The rest of us took off after him. As we struggled to reach him, I kept a close eye on what he was doing.  
As he neared the tower, he leaped onto the tower and scaled the wall rapidly. He pushed his self from the wall as he back flipped to land his feet on some pipes below the platform. Tarren flipped his self from below the platform to a railing as a guard came by and started to firebend. He flipped off the railing, narrowly missing the flames and gave the guard a series of punches that knocked him unconscious. Two guards ran out from a corridor. One of the guards aimed a firebending kick towards Tarren but he dodged and used his arm to trip his other leg, sending him to the ground with a loud thud. The other guard firebended but Tarren dodged and jumped to the railing behind him. He quickly jumped onto the wall and the guard stared at him, dumbfounded.  
He scaled the wall with fierce determination as the warden looked down with shock. Tarren flipped his self over the railing and landed down on the platform behind the warden. The guard near the warden got into a stance and before he did so, Tarren slid on the ground and tripped him over.  
The warden attempted to move but Tarren got up and held his arm in a deadlock grip. His other hand was positioned dangerously in front of the warden's face should he attempt to fight back. He stared at him with glittering, hostile eyes.  
"You wouldn't dare," the warden hissed.  
Tarren rolled his eyes and turned the warden around and brought his hands together as he rapidly tied them with a red string. Tarren remained behind, pulling down the warden's headband and turning it around so the tie was on his mouth.  
"Sorry Warden," he said as he tightened the tie and let go. "You're my prisoner now."  
He slammed him against the wall as the rest of us caught up with him.  
"We've got the Warden, now let's get out of here," he said, winking his eye at me.  
Dad held his stomach as we all panted for breath. "That's some guy."  
I looked at Tarren and smiled widely. "Tell me about it."

Ren:

As the prisoners rioted below, our group ran up a staircase towards the gondola.  
Tarren turns back to Alana, grinning victoriously. "We're almost there."  
As we ran the warden was carried on Massimo's shoulder. The guards at the gondola proceed to firebend at our group as we approached. Reacting fast, I shoved Alana aside and intercepted the flame, dissipating it immediately. I glared up at the guards as more joined in to help.  
"Back off, we've got the Warden," I hissed.  
I moved aside as their eyes panned across our group. The warden looked up from Massimo's shoulder and mumbled under the tie. The guards loosened their stances grudgingly.  
"Let's go," I snapped at the others.  
Our group slowly and warily walked past the guards with our arms outstretched should the guards attack us. I stopped at the end of the platform while the rest ran towards the gondola. The gondola door slid aside as Tarren opened it.  
"Everyone in," he said.  
Alana boarded the gondola first and was swiftly followed by the rest. I remained at the platform and ran to the lever, pushing it down. The ropes of the gondola loosened and uncoiled as it slowly moved off, leaving me behind. I kicked the lever several times, turning my head to see the guards running towards me. With one final kick, I successfully broke the lever and ran towards the gondola.  
I flew over the railings with fire balls sailing over my head. As I came up to the gondola, Alana reached out her arm as she caught me. She struggled under the weight but I managed to grab hold to the sides of the gondola as Alana held my arms for support as I climbed in.  
"What are you doing?" she panted.  
"I'm making it so they can't stop us."  
"Way to think ahead," she complimented, nodding in surprise.  
Tarren was giddy with excitement. "We're on our way."  
I breathed a sigh of relief and nodded my head. On my way to Odette…to home.  
I looked over at Kodah who was looking back at the gondola tower.  
"Wait. Who's that?" he asked.  
Alana and I turned our heads to see Athera, Kenna and some guards back at the gondola tower as they looked at the fleeing gondola.  
Of for the love of all that was holy! Couldn't I ever catch a flipping break!?  
"That's a problem," I said as the guards proceed to bow in respect to my sister. "It's my sister and her friend."  
Inside of the gondola, Kodah and I looked back to the tower. Athera turned her head to the side and grabbed the handcuffs clipped on a guard's waist. Her eyes traveled up to the lines of the gondola as Kenna cartwheeled onto them. Athera running ahead below the lines while Kenna proceeded to rapidly run across the line. Athera readied herself before she firebended a huge jet of blue fire. She propelled herself from the ground into the air and the handcuff locked around the line. Athera placed one arm and a leg behind her and firebended another huge jet of fire. The force slid her across the line swiftly. Kenna continued running on the upper line as Athera came by on the lower line.  
Tarren glared icily at the two. "This is a rematch I've been waiting for."  
I shared his resentment and hatred for them. "Me too."  
I proceeded to climb up to the gondola's roof as the two girls neared the gondola. Tarren, Alana and I prepared ourselves on the roof, Alana unsheathing her sword. Kenna cartwheeled off the line, onto the roof, facing Tarren while Athera landed in from of Alana and I.  
Athera stood up with an evil grin on her face, her golden brown eyes glittering maliciously. She got into a stance with her arms outstretched in front of her before firebending with her feet towards mine. Reacting with ease, I jumped and firebended the flames away.  
Behind us, Tarren made the first move. Kenna attempted to chi block him but he blocked all her shots deftly. He attempted to punch Kenna but she brought up her arm and intercepted the punch. They struggled briefly with neither one gaining the upper hand before Tarren punched again but Kenna flipped away into the gondola. She entered through the opening and swiftly exited by another opening back up onto the roof, appearing back behind Tarren. Kenna attempted to chi block him again but he dodged off at the last moment. Kenna continued to fight as a jet of blue fire flew past them.  
While they continued to fight, Athera continued to firebend. I pushed Athera's flame apart with my bare hands, dissipating it while Alana proceeded to swing her sword.  
Athera dodged it and as the sword finished its arc before she stood up again. She firebended towards Alana who backed off as I took over, breaking the flame apart with my hands and firebending towards my sister, aiming at her feet. Athera jumped and turned before landing back down with a grin. Her eyes suddenly widened and blinked as Alana's sword glinted in the sunlight. Athera was forced to move back and was pushed near the edge of the roof.  
Alana moved back and I took the lead by firebending at my sister's feet again. She jumped and landed in a push up position, balancing only on her hands. She moves her legs across her body and firebended at Alana and I as we moved aside.  
The fire traveled towards Tarren and Kenna as they also parted to let the flame pass by before Kenna cartwheeled forward and they resumed fighting.  
Suddenly, the warden appeared in a window inside the gondola and pulled down the tie covered his mouth.  
"Cut the line!" he bellowed loudly before Massimo covered the warden's mouth and held him back.  
I looked back down at the platform to see a metal object being brought near the wheel that contained the line as it sparked under friction. A guard struggled to hold the metal object in place as two guards behind him were holding a huge hacksaw.  
Returning my attention back to the fight, Athera fired a shot towards me but I once again broke the fire apart and sent another shot towards my sister. Athera jumped and firebended back as she landed and I broke the fire apart again. I glanced behind me and saw that Tarren and Kenna were still fighting as well. We all suddenly lost our balance as the gondola stopped moving, swaying to and fro precariously. I looked back to see that the wheel had stopped turning. I heard a shout and turned to see Alana sliding off the roof. I moved towards her and grabbed her arm, catching her. She dangled on the of the roof for a moment and the gondola swayed some more. Once the gondola stopped moving, I pulled Alana up to safety.  
Kenna climbed up the metal extension while Athera regained her balance. Kenna jumped to the top of the metal extension, looking back at the tower.  
Her face paled and she looked at her friend worriedly. "They're about to cut the line!"  
Athera, alarmed, turned her head back to the tower to watch as two guards proceed to saw the line. Athera turned back as she, Kenna and Tarren looked at another gondola coming in.  
"Then it's time to leave." My sister smiled and propelled herself from the roof with her firebending, she sailed through the air, looking down at the roof, smirking at me. "Goodbye Ren."  
Still holding onto Alana, I looked darkly up at my sister. Athera stopped bending as she back flipped and landed on the other gondola's roof. Kenna also flipped onto the roof while Tarren, Alana and I looked at the other gondola as it sailed safely back to the tower.  
Kenna and Athera also looked back as the gondola continued moving. Furious, I flipped back into the inside of the gondola.  
"They're cutting the line. The gondola's about to go!" I said.  
Kodah frowned. "I hope this thing floats."

Naveen:

I looked, heartbroken, at the gondola Ren was escaping in. The guards were still sawing and any moment he would be dead.  
A tear slid down my cheek. How could he have picked her…the enemy of our nation…over me, the girl who had been there for him from the beginning.  
I loved him.  
My eyes snapped open and zeroed in on the blade as the lines broke. Without thinking, my stilettos flew and the guards holding the saw were thrown. In the docking area, the stiletto pinned the guard's wrist guard to the structure. He looked at another guard who was met with the same fate.  
"What are you doing?!" the guards yelled at me and I choked back another tear.  
"Saving the jerk who dumped me."  
The guards moved towards me as I released a stiletto while a guard proceeded to firebend at me. I threw the stilettos and dodged the flames. The guards continued to come and also get pinned by my weapons. The guards who remained untouched continued to firebend at me. I slid across the floor, narrowly missing the flames and slid across the two wheels as I stood up and released more stilettos into her hands. The guards who ran towards me got pinned by down by my weapons. A female guard widened her eyes as I used her as a shield and threw more stilettos at the guards behind me. When she was no longer useful to me, I released another stiletto and brought the female guard to the floor and pinned her wrist guard to the floor.  
I charged toward the wheel and kicked away the metal object that was preventing the lines from being loosened. The wheel turned and the gondola continued to move.  
Goodbye, love…

Ren:

Inside the gondola, I frantically tried to come up with a plan. We were about to go any second, and there was no way we could survive the fall. The water would fry us to bits as soon as we landed.  
I looked to Alana who looked out of the opening towards the tower. "Who is that?"  
curious, the rest of us joined in to look back at the tower.  
My eyes flew wide with amazement and shock as I recognized Naveen who continued to fend off the guards by herself. She turned her head back to the gondola, her eyes somehow finding mine and I winced.  
"It's Naveen," I gaped.  
The gondola reached the outer part of the crater. The door opened and Tarren rushed out followed by Alana, Kodah, Massimo, and I. Kodah turned towards Massimo and pointed to the inside of the gondola. Massimo proceeded to throw the warden back in, not to nicely either.  
Kodah looked at the warden lying on the floor, smug. "Sorry Warden, your record is officially broken."  
Kodah walked off while the warden continued to struggle on the floor. Finally free, our group ran up a rocky incline.  
"Well, we made it out. Now what?" Tarren asked.  
Alana stopped and looked back at me as I paused in my tracks, thinking.  
"Ren, what are you doing?" she snapped.  
"My sister was on that island."  
Alana shook her head at me, confused. "Yeah and she's probably right behind us. So let's not stop."  
"What I mean is she must have come here somehow," I explained. I turned and ran to the edge of the rocks and looked down. "There. That's our way out of here."  
The others came over and stood beside me as we gazed down at a Fire Nation zeppelin docked at the shore.

Athera:

I watched, seething with rage, as Naveen was brought in front of me by the guards. She lowered her head so that her fringe covered her eyes.  
"Leave us alone," I growled, venom dripping off my words like acid raindrops.  
The guards let go of Naveen's shoulder and did a Fire Nation bow. Naveen lifted her head up, her eyes cool and calm.  
"I never expected this from you," I snarled.  
Kenna was clasping her hands, staring at Naveen and back at me with a frightened look.  
"The thing I don't understand is why?" I asked and she lifted her had up. "Why would you do it? You know the consequences."  
I lowered my head down and glared at Naveen icily.  
"I guess you just don't know people as well as you think you do. You miscalculated. I love Ren more than I fear you," she said, her voice as calm as her eyes.  
My face scrunched up in fury and I felt ready to explode with rage.  
"No, you miscalculated! You should have feared me more!" I busted, shouting furiously.  
I got into a stance - if Naveen wasn't on my side, she would be on no side at all. Naveen was ready for my reaction and brought up her stiletto, her weapon glinting under the sunlight. I began to strike but suddenly Kenna jabbed my back with a series of punches.  
Every muscle in my body froze as I stared on at Naveen who looked stunned. Beyond rage and full of shock and hurt at the betrayal, I gasped and fell to the ground as Kenna looked on. After a moment, she ran to Naveen.  
"Come on," she gasped and pulled Naveen's arm. "Let's get out of here!"  
She tried to drag Naveen away but guards surrounded them immediately.  
Still on the floor and unable to move, I glared at them furiously. "You're both fools."  
The guards helped me up as the two girls were captured by the guards.  
"What shall we do with them, princess?" one of them asked me.  
I fixed them with glittering eyes as they stared back at me with unreadable expressions. "Put them somewhere I'll never have to see their faces again. And let them rot!"

Alana:

That night we finally returned to the Western Air Temple. We docked Athera's stolen zeppelin near the temple's structures. Odette, Kole, and Elise were standing in front of the zeppelin as Ren and I walked out.  
Ren and Odette immediately headed for each other and embraced tightly, sharing a few kisses, lost in their own world. I smiled at them softly, happy for them.  
Kole ignored them pointedly. "What are you doing in this thing? What happened to the war balloon?"  
Ren looked up and smiled slightly. "It kind of got destroyed."  
"Sounds like a crazy fishing trip," Odette said, giving us both a curious look.  
"Did you at least get some good meat?" Elise asked.  
I smiled and closed my eyes briefly before opening them again. "I did. The best meat of all. The meat of friendship and fatherhood."  
I looked towards the entrance of the zeppelin as Tarren and Dad disembarked. Massimo appeared shortly behind them.  
Massimo waved and smiled slightly. "I'm new. What's up everybody?"  
I looked back at Kole with a big grin as he teared up. "Dad."  
He ran towards his father and they gave each other a huge bear hug.  
"Hi, Kole," he said.  
"How are you here? What is going on?" Kole turned and looked at me. "Where did you go?"  
I shrugged. "We... kind of went to a Fire Nation prison."  
Ren nodded as Odette gaped in surprise. Kole's gloved hand reached for me and grabbed me by my arm. Ren smiled and leaned his chin on Odette's shoulder as my brother and I embraced our Dad.  
"Seriously, you guys didn't find any meat?" Elise asked.


	16. Chapter 16: The Southern Raiders

Kole:

In the area near the fountain, everyone was sleeping in a circle. Tarren and Alana were cuddled up together with Massimo and Dad off to the side. Cash was in his sleeping bag next to The Duke and Ren and Odette who were sharing the same sleeping bag - ugh, vomit - were also fast asleep. Odette yawned and rubbed her eyes tiredly and carefully wiggled her way out of Ren's arms. She smiled at him lovingly - a look that basically ripped my heart into tiny shreds - and then walked away, looking at the fountain with birds surrounding it.  
Suddenly, the peaceful beauty of the morning was shattered as the birds suddenly scattered as a large object whistled past them.  
Odette immediately jumped into action and twirled her glider, airbending the object away. The bomb hit the top of the cliff and exploded as more bombs were hurled towards the Western Air Temple from below the clouds. Everyone jolted awake from the noise.  
Terrified, I watched as my Odette ran forward fearlessly. Three black shapes were coming out from the clouds at this point. The shapes turned into Fire Nation airships as they rose up from the clouds. A canon from one of the air ships fired and a bridge on the temple got destroyed by a bomb. Odette retreated and twirled her staff, airbending a huge gust of air, closing the doors around the fountain and creating a stone square of shelter. More bombs were hurled and they exploded outside.  
The ceiling of our sanctuary began to crumble and shake. One of the pieces dislodged and I looked up in terror, realizing it was heading right for me and I had no time to move.  
Ren suddenly came flying and pushed me out of the way. "Watch out!"  
We rolled and tumbled before the ceiling piece landed at the spot I had been. I felt a flash of anger and shoved him roughly.  
"What are you doing?!" I hissed venomously.  
Ren looked at me like I'd lost it. "Keeping rocks from crushing you."  
"Okay, I'm not crushed. You can get off me now."  
Furious, I slid out from under Ren irritably.  
He glared after me for a moment before standing. "I'll take that as a thank you."  
A crumbling wall was revealing a tunnel as it fell apart. Haru and Elise were the ones who created it as an escape rout.  
Elise turned back and pointed to the tunnel, her blind eyes narrowed in fierce concentration. "Come on, we can get out through here!"  
As we all started to evacuate to the tunnel, Odette stayed behind, pulling on Emrys's reins towards the tunnel.  
She suddenly froze, her grey eyes wide with horror and gasped. "What are you doing?"  
I followed her look to see that Ren wasn't evacuating.  
Good riddance, I thought bitterly.  
He turned back to her slightly with a warm smile but a serious look. "Go ahead, I'll hold them off. I think this is a family visit."  
Ren suddenly took off running towards the air ships while Odette looked on, stunned and horrified.  
"Ren, no!" she screamed and darted after him.  
Alana and I leapt forward at the same time. I locked my arm around her slender waist, easily lifting her into the air and pulling her back. She continued to fight and strain against me, her arms and legs still flailing about in desperation.  
"Come on, we gotta get out of here," Alana hissed as the airbender gave up her fight.  
I let her go and smiled slightly. Better him than her anyways.  
She shot me a dirty look that took me by surprise slightly before all three of us proceed to pull on Emrys's reins.

Ren:

I jumped over the crumpled portions of the partially destroyed air temple doors. As I ran, a bomb suddenly flew in front of me and exploded with black smoke going everywhere. I jumped out from the smoke with a smoke sphere around me, unharmed and I started to firebend towards the underside of the airship. I stumbled back a few steps as an observation stand suddenly rose up from the cliffs, Athera looking down from the stand and smiling crazily.  
I glared up at her, every muscle in my body tenses and ready for the attack I knew was about to come. "What are you doing here?"  
"You mean it's not obvious yet?" she leered and opened her arms out, her slender fingers curling into claws while her amber eyes danced menacingly. "I'm about to celebrate becoming an only child!"  
She flipped over the railings and firebended with her feet to me. Ready and prepared for such a move, I easily flipped back and the area I had been at explodes, covering the entire surface in black smoke. As I ran away from the explosion, I tripped and fell down from the impact.  
Looking for a plan, I looked up and saw a pillar breaking apart, the underside of the structure shaking as the floor cracked and fissures rapidly appeared. I got up and ran across the floor, knowing my time was swiftly running out.  
I proceeded to run up a pillar and as it slowly fell, I launched myself off it. I sailed through the air as I firebended ferociously. My first 2 shots missed the observation stand but the third one finally hit it.  
Athera jumped off and landed below before the flames hit.  
I fell rapidly and struggled to hold on to the Fire Nation symbol on the airship but slipped. Athera stood up and looked on smugly as I disappeared into the clouds.

Kole:

In the crumbling structure of the sleeping area, Elise was grinding her teeth with her hands up. She was busy trying to support the tunnel as Emrys continued to resist us.  
Odette, Alana, and I stood outside the tunnel as we tugged the reins to no avail.  
"I can't get her to go in there. Emrys hates tunnels," Odette yelled over the noise, frustrated.  
My arms were starting to tremble against Emrys's resistance. "Odette, there's no way we can fly out of here."  
"We'll have to find a way," she sighed and we loosened our hold on the reins.  
"We need to split up," Alana said and ran towards our group in the tunnel. "Take the tunnel and get to the stolen airship."  
"No," I snapped, immediately against the plan. Determined to not lose anyone else, I walked to Dad. "The Fire Nation can't separate our family again."  
He placed his hands on my shoulders and smiled softly. "It'll be okay, it's not forever."  
I made it painfully obvious that I didn't want to do this…I had already lost Odette to that lying, horrible, disgusting excuse of a man and now I was about to lose my father again, too.  
But, knowing there was no other option, I sighed and gave my Dad a hug and ran back to Emrys. Dad proceeded to squeeze Alana's arm and hugged her. Alana nodded and then pulled Tarren away with her. I turned back just in time to see the legs of the fleeing group in the tunnel while Emrys moved to the side.  
In the saddle, I stretched my hand out to help Tarren into the saddle while Elise touched the wall.  
She was on the ground looking at Emrys as Odette climbed onto her horns onto her head. "I can clear that away and we can fly out through there."  
She earthbended herself onto Emrys.  
"Umm, there's an awful lot of fire in that general direction," Tarren commented and we cringed as our surroundings continued to crumble and shake.  
"We'll get through, let's go," Odette said.  
We braced ourselves as the fallen pile of debris and rocks were thrown apart as Emrys flew off, a shield of earth in front of her face. Athera turned around and spotted the flying dragon, she began firebending at the earth shield but it didn't break apart. She ducked as Emrys flew over while Elise earthbended the shield into pieces.  
I glared back at a smiling Athera as she cocked an eyebrow and looked back to a rising airship behind her. She moved aside to reveal Ren standing on the airship, looking back with fierce determination.  
Our group looked back with surprise as the siblings faced off.  
Ren made the first move, running and propelling his self. I felt Odette stiffen beside me, her eyes trained on the area between the two airships as he leaped off from one airship to the other. Athera firebended at her brother. Still sailing through the air, he kicked the flame aside and firebended back.  
Athera did a backward somersault to avoid the flame as Ren landed in front of her. He firebended at her but she dissipated it with a swipe of her arm. She sent another shot to her brother who also swiped it aside. Athera moved off as Ren sent a shot to her sister and rushed in.  
Emrys flew above the clouds, dodging the fire. I was standing up on the saddle with water circling around me to prevent the fire from hitting the saddle.  
I glanced at the bottom of another airship as various elite firebenders stood at the edge and proceed to firebend. Odette pulled up Emrys's reins and the dragon flew up to get away from the fire. She flew over the air ship while Odette desperately struggled to control her dragon.  
I looked around to watch as Athera swiped her brother's fire away with her right and her left hand. She then sent her own shot to Ren. Ren kicked away the flames with his right and left foot. More shots came at him and he swiped them away with his hands while closing in on his sister. Athera threw her left fist out and time seemed to slow down as Ren pushed Athera's fire away with his right hand and brought out his flaming left fist. The two collided their firsts and the impact caused a huge explosion as a big puff of black smoke covered the top of the air ship.  
Athera, on her back, skidded across the surface of the air ship. She got flipped onto her stomach and she struggled to hold on but was thrown off. Ren tumbled across the surface and his eyes widened in fear as he also fell off the air ship. Emrys dove down and Ren reached out his arm, his eyes locking with mine. I hesitated for a moment, willing to let him fall to his death - after all with him out of the way Odette and I could be together…After a moment, I reconsidered, and before it was too late I pulled him back into the safety of the saddle. Inside the saddle, Ren and the rest of us looked back at Athera who was falling and spinning around.  
"She's…not going to make it," Ren said, sounding slightly sad much to my surprise.  
Why in the world would he care? It would be one less problem we had to deal with.  
I glared stonily at a frustrated Athera as she tugged the hairpiece off her hair and firebended with her feet as the force propelled her to the nearby cliff. As she neared the cliff, she back-flipped and dug her hairpiece into the rocks as she skidded down, pushing her legs against the rocks to slow down her descend. She finally stopped and looked up, her long dark brown, almost black hair whipping around her evil, pretty face.  
Ren glared, suddenly disappointed and angry. "Of course she did."  
He looked away as Athera looked on with a satisfied smirk.

Ren:

That night, we made camp the top of a rocky hill. Our entire group was seated around a campfire with Emrys sleeping a little ways off. Odette was snuggled up against my side as we feasted on biscuits and left over stew.  
"Wow, camping. It really seems like old times again, doesn't it," she said, smiling.  
I broke a biscuit in half, smiling wittily. "If you really want to feel like old times, I could, uhh... chase you around a while and try to capture you."  
The group laughed as I ate my biscuit nonchalantly.  
Kole looked down sorely, ice in his voice as he spoke mockingly. "Haha."  
I ignored his remark and no one else seemed to hear him because we all continued on with the conversation without missing a beat.  
Odette quirked a playful eyebrow and grinned. "Oh please, you couldn't catch a limping turtle."  
I almost choked on my biscuit. "Oh really? You wanna bet on that?"  
"Well it wouldn't be much of a bet considering you'd lose but whatever helps you sleep at night," she said, smirking at me in the most adorable way.  
"Alright that's it," I said as I lunged for her.  
She squealed and jumped to her feet, avoiding my grasp by mere inches. I scrambled to my feet and faced her. She was standing across from me on the other side of the circle of people, smirking. I ran around, trying to catch her but she always managed to stay just out of my grasp. It felt like we were playing a really weird game of duck duck goose.  
Tired, I cheated and carefully leapt across the circle, almost grabbing her but she darted away and started to take off toward the tents.  
I caught up to her easily and snagged her arm, pulling her back to me. She spun and blasted me right in the chest with a small burst of air, loosening my grip and making me fall backwards a few feet away. When I got back up, she was hovering lazily on an airball a few feet just out of my reach.  
I huffed and walked over so I was just under her and looked up pointedly. She smirked and I pointed at the ground, tapping my foot patiently.  
She rolled her eyes and let go of her airball, letting herself fall to the ground. I held my arms out and caught her before she could hit the ground and she smiled.  
"So does that mean I win?" she asked, poking my chest playfully.  
I considered for a moment. "Hmm…no."  
I laughed and leaned my face down to kiss her.  
Suddenly, the ground shifted and my feet flew out from underneath me. I gasped and grabbed Odette, taking her down with me. Just before we hit the ground, I felt her use her air bending to hold us up.  
"Odette," I growled in annoyance as she laughed.  
"Sorry," she said, and dropped us.  
I hit the ground fairly hard and huffed as she handed on top of me.  
"Okay okay you win," I groaned, hugging her as I tried to get my breath back.  
She laughed and buried her face in my neck. "Good."  
I laughed with her and shifted, pulling her face over to mine. She kissed me lovingly and I threaded my fingers through her long hair, feeling my heart beat thickly inside my chest.  
"Get a tent!" Alana's voice suddenly yelled, breaking through our happy moment.  
I growled in annoyance and tilted my head back, banging it lightly against the soft grass.  
Odette laughed and pulled me to my feet.  
"Come on," she said. "We'd better hurry or else Alana's going to throw a hissy fit again."  
"Wouldn't want that to happen," I said, rolling my eyes as she laced her fingers through mine.  
"Haha, nope."  
I smiled as we walked hand in hand back over to our places at the fire.  
As we returned, Alana shook her head in amusement and raised her cup. "To Ren. Who knew after all those times he tried to snuff us out, today, he be our hero."  
The rest except for Kole raised their cups their cups in agreement and all raised their voices in a jubilant shout. "Here, here!"  
Elise and Odette nudged me with their elbows as I wrapped an arm around Odette's waist.  
I smiled warmly, pride welling up in my chest. "I'm touched. I don't deserve this."  
Kole's head snapped up as he fixed me with a glare that could have frightened small children. "Yeah, no kidding."  
A deathly silence fell over our group as he stood up and left without another word, his muscles stiff and rigid.  
Alana raised an eyebrow. "What's with him?"  
I stood up as well. "I wish I knew."  
It was time to end this petty fighting between the two of us. It wasn't good for the team and it wasn't good for Odette. Determined to set things right, I walked off as the others looked at me quizzically.  
"What's with him?!" Alana exclaimed.  
I grimly followed Kole near the edge of a cliff, a full moon partially covered by some clouds shining down around us. Near the edge of the cliff, Kole was kneeling down and I was still walking towards him. As I drew closer, he noticed me and immediately got up and moved away.  
"This isn't fair," I snapped, putting both arms out. "Everyone else seems to trust me now. What is it with you?"  
Kole suddenly turned around and snapped venomously.  
"Oh, everyone trust you now?" He placed hand on chest before stabbing a finger at the ocean. "Odette was the first person to trust you, remember? Back in Eralith. And you turned around and betrayed her. Betrayed all of us."  
I narrowed my eyes. "That was a mistake. And you and I both know that your issues aren't spawned from just that incident."  
His eyes flashed and I held my ground. "You took her right out from underneath me. She was mine!"  
I looked down guiltily before raising my head. "What can I do to make it up to you?"  
"You really want to know?" He walked towards me angrily. "Hmm, maybe you could re-conquer Eralith in the name of the Earth King. Or, I know. You could bring my mother back. Or at the very least leave Odette alone."  
I glared, immediately rejecting the thought of ever giving her up.  
He hit me shoulder with his as he walked past. I looked back sadly, listening to the sounds around as the waves crashed at the bottom of the cliffs below, thinking.  
After a while of standing on the cliffs by myself, I figured out what had to be done.  
I headed for Alana's tent, hoping to get the answers that I needed in order to make this work.  
I came across Tarren who was looking around warily as I walked out from the rock between us. We didn't see each other at first until the last minute where we accidentally bumped into each other just outside Alana's tent.  
I quirked and eyebrow and glanced at him then the tent, amused.  
Tarren raised his arms and blushed. "Opps, wrong tent."  
Tarren started to walk away hurriedly and I held back a laugh. "Sorry. Do you need to talk to Alana too?"  
Tarren turned back, still blushing, and moved his arms in a "No" gesture. "Nope. Not me."  
He moved off and I shook my head slightly before entering the tent. With an exaggerated, sweat drop expression on my face, I fixed my eyes on the disturbing sight before me. Alana was lying on her stomach on a mat surrounded by candles that exuded a romantic ambience. There was a bunch of roses hanging above her.  
Alana turned her head with a rose in her mouth. "Well, hellooo-"  
Her eyes flew wide as she swallowed the rose, choking a little as she scrambled into a sitting position. Still wearing the sweat drop expression, I hesitantly walked forward and proceeded to sit in front of Alana.  
"Uh, I. Yes," Alana said and sat up further, chewing on the flower. "Why would I be expecting any one different?" She swallowed the flower with a pained expression and coughed out some petals. "So what's on your mind?"  
I ignored her awkwardness and went right to the point. "Your brother, he hates me and I don't know why! Well that's not entirely true…I know one of the reasons. But I do care what he thinks of me."  
"Nah, he doesn't hate you. Kole doesn't hate anyone," she said and moved her hand across in an arc. "Except maybe some people in the Fire Nation."  
Her eyes widened as she realized what she just said.  
"No, I mean, uh, not people who are good but used to be bad," she said and made pacifying gestures with her hands. "I mean, bad people. Fire Nation people who are so bad, who have never been good and probably won't be ever!"  
I interrupted. "Stop. Okay, listen. I know this may seem out of no where, but I want you to tell me what happened to your Mother."  
Alana was completely stunned. "What? Why would you want to know that?"  
"Odette mentioned something before, and Kole just now when he was yelling at me. I think somehow... he's connected his anger about that to his anger at me."  
Alana looked to the side sadly. "It's not a day I like to remember…"

Alana:

The bright blue sky beamed down happily over our peaceful village.  
I, at age five, raised my head out from a snow fort. A snowball came out of nowhere and hit my face. Kole remained in a throwing stance and he started to giggle. Wiping the hair out of my eyes, I heaved a huge snowball as big as my body. I prepared to throw it as I looked up.  
Black snow started to rain down on the village. I dropped the snowball at my feet, confused and frightened by the strange snow.  
"I'm going to find Mum," Kole said and darted past me. I ran the other direction…  
…As my mind was plagued by the memories of the day I lost my mother, I spoke to Ren, who was still in front of me, listening to the story intently.  
"Many of the warriors have seen the black snow before and they knew what it meant. A Fire Nation raid…"  
…I and a few other adult warriors armed with clubs ran towards a line of Fire Nation soldiers. The soldiers yelled a battle cry as the Water Tribe warriors readied ourselves. I stared at the bottom of the enemy ship as the soldiers jumped off their ships into the snow and stood up with their palms on fire. Dad and some other warriors yelled a battle cry as well and charged. I looked on behind the safety of another snow fort, terrified.  
The soldiers and warriors began to fight…  
…"We were badly outnumbered. But somehow, we managed to drive them off…"  
…The warriors threw the soldiers off their feet before they started to firebend. A soldier was thrown towards the place I was hiding. His head got stuck in the snow. I threw snow on his back and used the soldier's back as a stool to reach the ground. Looking around, I spotted a boomerang on the ground as I picked it up. I ran towards the ship but stopped. The other warriors in the background stopped as well…  
"…As quickly as they came, they just left…"  
…Triumphant, I threw my boomerang…  
"I was so relieved when it was over but, that's because I didn't know yet what have happened," I murmured. I lowered my head and composed myself. "I didn't know we lost our Mother."  
Ren frowned before stiffening. "Wait. Can you remember any details about the soldiers who raided your village Like, what the lead ship looked like?"  
I thought hard for a moment, recalling three red Fire Nation flags with raven symbols on them. "Yeah…Sea Ravens. The main ship had flags with sea ravens on them."  
Ren nodded to himself. "The symbol of The Southern Raiders. Thanks, Alana."  
Thank goodness! Time for a little Tarren and me time…  
"No problem." I placed an arm around Ren's shoulder. "Thanks for stopping by."  
I pushed the tent opening aside and shoved Ren out roughly and sighed.  
"Thought he never leave," I said. Hopeful and optimistic, I smiled and rubbed my hands together and pushed the tent opening aside, sticking my head out. "Tarren!"  
my eyes widened as I realized that Ren was still outside my tent.  
Drat!  
I looked at him and whistled as I retreated back into my tent while Ren stormed off.

Kole:

In the morning, I came out of my tent, blinking as the early dawn light shined down. I took a deep breath and smiled slightly, feeling better now that yesterday's events were behind me.  
When I looked down at something in front of my tent though, my optimistic feelings evaporated and I frowned. Ren was sitting on a rock in front of my tent and he looked up sleepily.  
"You look terrible," I snorted. I ignored him and rummaged through my bag for a brief moment.  
Ren stood up and rubbed his eyes. "I waited out here all night."  
What reason did he have for doing that? He already had Odette and everything else. Why couldn't he just go jump off a cliff and-  
Still ignoring him, I proceeded to pull out my canteen and splash my face with the cool water.  
"What do you want?" I snapped, shaking my hair out like a dog.  
"I know who killed your Mother," he said and I froze, widening my eyes and stopping shaking my head. "I'm going to help you find him."  
slowly, I turned around with a shocked look on my face, bewildered that he was offering this. I thought for a moment then made my decision. This may not fix everything he had done…and there was no way I could ever forgive him…but if this was a chance to avenge my mother, I was going to take it.  
My expression of shock quickly changed to one of seriousness.

Ren:

We were leaving immediately. I knew Odette wouldn't be happy with the two of us for what we were about to do, but there was no other way. Kole and I had to put a stop to our bickering or else this team was going to fall apart and Odette needed us more than ever.  
Emrys was grazing near the cliffs. Alana was leaning against her, fiddling with a necklace of flowers.  
Kole stomped up to her, his expression stony and hard. "I need to borrow Emrys."  
I followed behind him with my bag, praying that there wasn't going to be a scene.  
Odette, feeding Emrys hay, looked up, her grey eyes troubled. She brushed a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear. "Why? Is it your turn to take a little fieldtrip with Ren?"  
"Yes, it is."  
Odette was surprised by his dark tone. "Oh. What's going on?"  
Kole wouldn't look her in the eye. "We're going to find the man who took my Mother from me."  
A surprised Alana laid the necklace aside and sprang to her feet, stunned.  
I decided to interject myself into the conversation and bring them up to date. "Alana told me the story of what happened. I know who did it. And I know how to find him."  
"Umm... and what exactly do you think this would accomplish?" Odette said, giving Kole a stern look.  
Kole sighed and shook his head, beginning to walk away. "I knew you wouldn't understand."  
Odette and Alana looked on behind him.  
"Wait, stop, I do understand. You're feeling unbelievable pain and rage. How do you think I felt about the sandbenders when they stole Emrys? How do you think I felt about the Fire Nation when I found out what happened to my people?" Odette snapped hurriedly, trying to calm him down.  
I sighed and everyone turned their eyes on me. "He needs this, Odette. This is about getting closure and justice."  
I winced as I saw the annoyance flash in her eyes.  
"I don't think so. I think it's about getting revenge," Odette growled, her expression bleak.  
"Fine!" Kole snarled angrily, his expression twisted with rage and frustration. "Maybe it is. Maybe that's what I need. Maybe that's what he deserves."  
Odette was astonished. "Kole, you sound like Detra."  
"It's not the same. Detra attacked the innocent. This man, he's a monster," he said, defensive.  
Alana stepped in. "Kole, she was my Mother too. But I think Odette might be right."  
"Then you didn't love her the way I did!"  
Alana was speechless for a moment. "Kole…"  
"The monks used to say that revenge is like a two-headed ratviper. While you watch your enemy go down, you're being poisoned yourself," Odette said, her eyes soft as she took a step toward Kole.  
I snorted. "That's cute. But this isn't air temple pre-school. It's the real world."  
I winced slightly as she glared at me. That was going to come back and bite me later I just knew it.  
"Now that I know he's out there, now that I know we could find him, I feel like I have no choice," Kole growled, ignoring us.  
Odette sighed. "Kole, you do have a choice. Forgiveness."  
I stepped forward and tried to reason with her. "That's the same as doing nothing."  
Odette shook her head, stubborn as always. "No it's not. It's easy to do nothing. But it's hard to forgive." Kole looked on darkly. "It's not just hard, it's impossible."  
He turned and walked away as I followed after him.

Kole:

Later that night, Ren and I silently crept through the campsite.  
I was dressed in a black ninja-like outfit, Ren in identical clothing. Without even having to look, I could sense that Odette and Alana were peering out from a rock behind me.  
They climbed over the rock and it was Odette's warm but annoyed voice that reached me first. "So you were just going to take Emrys anyway?"  
"Yes."  
"It's okay, because I forgive you," she said and smiled and adorable smile, hopeful. "That give you any ideas?"  
Ren shook his head at her, slightly amused as I packed my bag. "Don't try to stop us."  
"I wasn't planning to. This is a journey you need to take. You need to face this man," Odette said and I nodded, grateful and relieved that she had finally understood. I climbed on Emrys's horn to her head.  
"But when you do, please don't choose revenge," Odette said, glancing at Ren as he threw his bag into the saddle. "Let your anger out and then let it go. Forgive him."  
Ren, tired of her preaching, rolled his eyes. "Okay, we'll be sure to do that guru-goody-goody."  
He climbed aboard Emrys as Odette hurled a rock at him with a small burst of air, bounding it off his head.  
He grunted and then sighed. "Sorry. I love you."  
She glared but nodded her head, looking mad but her eyes soft as she looked back at him.  
I looked down at Odette from Emrys's head. "Thanks for understanding Odette. Yip yip."  
Emrys took off.

Odette:

We looked up at the departing dragon, and I hoped that they would stay safe and come back soon.  
Alana looked at me when they were gone, an admiring look on her face. "You know, you're pretty wise for a kid."  
"Thanks, Alana."  
"Usually it's annoying but right now, I'm just impressed."  
I narrowed my eyes - was I seriously that bad? "I appreciate that."  
"So... can I borrow Fang for a week?"  
Stiffening, I turned my head towards Alana rapidly. "Why do you need Fang?"  
Alana shrugged and made an "I don't know" noise.  
Please come back soon…

Kole:

Emrys flew silently past the Moon.  
"We need to find the Fire Navy communication tower," Ren said from where he was leaning on the saddle. "All the navy's movements are coordinated by messenger hawk. And every tower has to be up to date on where everyone is deployed."  
I nodded, spotting a communication tower in the middle of the ocean as the building slowly became bigger as we neared it. "So once we find the communication tower, we bust in and take the information we need."  
"Not exactly. We need to be stealthy and make sure no one spots us. Otherwise, they'll warn The Southern Raiders. Long before we reach them."  
As he spoke, Emrys flew in just above the water and airbended with her tail to propel her forward. She displaced some water below. The whole building structure of the communication tower was very simple really with just a bunch of rocks below. Emrys landed on the shore and Ren and I ran out from behind them.  
I waterbended the water into a raft of ice and both of us jumped on it. I proceeded to surf the raft, creating a tall wave to bring the raft up to the tower and we jumped off. We found a corridor of the tower as a door opens and two guards walked out. Ren and I quickly and easily snuck past them without raising any alarms.  
Another guard was writing at a desk. Ren and I had used the ventilation system and we were currently looking through the gratings. I made some waterbending movements, watching the guard's hand holding the paintbrush as the dish of ink spilled onto her hand and the table. The guard looked at her stained handed in annoyance and left the table and room. When she was gone, I moved the grating and Ren and I down and landed silently in front of a shelf.  
"Okay, Southern Raiders," Ren said and pulled out a black scroll and unrolled it on a table. It's a map of a mountain terrain with three flags placed along some points in an inverted triangle.  
"There." His finger pointed to the flag on the top right. "On patrol near Whale Tail Island."  
I furrowed my brows in seriousness. "Whale Tail Island, here we come."

Ren:

Emrys flew swiftly through the sky at day time. I had been uneasily sleeping in the saddle and as I woke up, I stretched and looked up at Kole.  
He was staring straight ahead with black circles under his eyes, holding Emrys's reins tightly.  
"You should get some rest. We'll be there in a few hours. You'll need all your strength," I said.  
"Now, don't you worry about my strength. I have plenty," he growled and I blinked. "I'm not the helpless little boy I was when they came."

Kole:

Alana and I looked up at the black snow, fear shining in both our eyes.  
Immediately, my thoughts went to my mother and I panicked, feeling a desperate urge to protect her. "I'm going to find Mum."  
I ran past my sister, kicking up snow behind me as I went. Several people ran deeper into the village, their skin boots barely touching the ash stained snow as they went. I ran back in as warriors ran past me, heading the other way. I reached the inside of a hut and pushed the curtain aside.  
"Mum!"  
My mother was almost on her knees on the ground in front of a Fire Nation soldier. The soldier turned back and looked at me, his muddy brown eyes boring down in dark slits. A sinister chill slithered across my skin and down my spine as my eyes began to tear up in fear.  
"Just let him go and I'll give you the information you want," my mother pleaded, her pretty face creased with worry. She was a beautiful woman, with snowy ivory skin and long, raven black hair. Her eyes were gleaming and crystal blue, as frosty as the arctic waters that surrounded us.  
The Fire Nation soldier turned to me sharply. "You heard your Mother, get out of here!"  
I looked on, frightened. "Mum, I'm scared."  
My Mum smiled reassuringly. "Go find your Dad, sweetie. I'll handle this."  
Reluctant, I looked at the soldier who stared down at me fiercely. I couldn't focus on anything else but the soldier's dark brown eye. Snapping out of it, I pushed the curtains aside and ran out of the house.  
Desperately, I charged through the snow, speaking to Ren as the memories plagued my vision, blinding me from reality…  
…"I ran as fast as I could."…  
I stopped at the edge of a small hill and looked down.  
I started shouting.  
"Dad! Dad!" Dad was busy throwing a firebending soldier hard into the snow. "Please, I think Mum's in trouble! There's a man in our house."  
Dad let go of the soldier immediately.  
"Alia!" he cried and ran off, heading for the empty house that awaited us…  
…I returned back to present day.  
"But, we were too late. When we got there, the man was gone," I said, my voice cracking slightly. "And so was she."  
I looked over at a sorrowful Ren. "Your Mother was a brave woman."  
I touched her necklace in my pocket, feeling a little closer to her. "I know."  
Emrys flew until night. By then, Ren had taken over the reins and I was half-sleeping in the saddle. Ren looked through a telescope.  
"There!" he suddenly said and my head popped up from the saddle. "See those Sea Raven flags?"  
He threw the telescope to me and I looked at a lone ship in the ocean, focusing on the Sea Raven flag. "It's The Southern Raiders."  
I brought down the telescope and glared fiercely at the ship. "Let's do this."

Ren:

Emrys entered the water.  
Underwater, Emrys had air bubble on her head to keep her from drowning. I looked up at the under side of the boat as Emrys swam to it.  
Kole began to waterbend. A group of Fire Nation soldiers were gossiping idly above on the deck.  
"So there I was and I was like, you know, you could…"  
A stream of water coiled round the guard and the others looked on, stunned. He got pulled into the water with a scream. The other soldiers ran to the side of the ship to look. Emrys swam up to the other side of the ship. As Kole broke through the surface first, he was followed shortly by Emrys and I.  
Kole waterbended two huge waves on both sides and sent it toward the ship. One of the soldiers heard the noise and looked back. He grabbed a neighboring soldier's shoulder as the wave slowly closed in. The soldiers got hit by the wave and were thrown into the ocean as Emrys landed on the deck.  
A lone soldier who managed to stay on deck stood up by holding the side of the ship. Emrys landed noisily and he turned back to face a charging Kole. He had tears in his eyes as the soldier firebended and was thrown overboard into the ocean by a tunnel of water. I looked out over the water surface as the soldiers in the water looked at the last remaining soldier on deck entering the water.  
We ran to the corridor of the ship and rushed in. Kole had bended water around his arms. A door opened and a soldier brandishing a sword popped out. I grabbed the soldier's arm and held onto the sword as I pushed the soldier back into the storeroom. The soldier hit a pile of stuff and I closed the door and slid the sword in between the handles. Kole was waiting for me as we headed deeper into the corridor. Finally, we came to the last of the doors and we stopped in front of it.  
"This is it, Kole. Are you ready to face him?" I asked.  
Kole pulled down his mask, his eyes glittering. He turned on the spot and bended the water towards the door with a battle cry. Water seeped through the sides and the door burst open to reveal Kole. I entered the room quickly to dissipate some flames that came at us. The assailant continued firebending at me to no avail. I sent a shot at the Captain's feet and the Captain jumped back towards the steering wheel, staring down at the blast.  
"Who are you?" he hissed.  
I remained in a stance and Kole looking on vehemently behind me. "You don't remember him? You will soon. Trust me."  
I firebended again and the Captain moved to the side and broke the flame. He proceeded to bend with his arm out stretched. Suddenly, everything seemed to freeze as his arm started to shake uncontrollably.  
"What?" The Captain's arm moved around wildly. He struggled and groans as he tried to contain it with his other arm. His arm dropped to the floor and his body bended forward painfully. His helmet fell off his head.  
"What's happening to me?" he screamed in terror, a sound that send chills down my spine.  
What was going one?  
I turned around slightly to see Kole in a strange, lithe stance, smiling. He was bringing down his arms and the Captain's body was brought to the floor.  
Apparently Kole was far more dangerous than he let on…  
Shocked at Kole's technique, I narrowed my eyes and looked down at the Captain.  
"Think back. Think back to your last raid on the Southern Water Tribe," I growled.  
The Captain laid huddled on the floor. "I don't know what you're talking about. Please, I don't know!"  
I kneeled near the Captain's head and pointed to Kole. "Don't lie! You look him in the eye and you tell me you don't remember what you did."  
Kole brought his arms up and the Captain was brought up to his knees. He looked back, frightened at a visibly angry Kole. I glared darkly at the scared Captain as his light brown eyes shone in fear.  
Suddenly, Kole's face softened in realization and his eyes widened in shock.  
"It's not him," he said and dropped his hands. The Captain fell back to the floor as Kole looked back, somber. "He's not the man."  
"What?! What do you mean he's not? He's a leader of The Southern Raiders!" The Captain stirred behind me. "He has to be the guy!"  
Kole turned and walked away as the Captain struggled to his feet.  
I did not come all this way for nothing, we were leaving with the information than this old sack of bones was going to tell.  
I pulled him by the arm and pushed him against the window in an arm lock.  
"If you're not the man we're looking for, who is?"  
The Captain's face was pressed up against the glass as he spoke. "You must be looking for Kelton. He retired four years ago."  
I turns my head and met Kole's determined face as his eyes brimmed with tears.

Kole:

We came to a valley with a house in the distance. A man with a small hoe was busy loosening the soil. He was a man with graying hair, kneeling on the dirt. I glared darkly at the man as an elderly lady appeared at the doorway in the house behind him.  
"Kelton, you lazy piece of work, I need something."  
Kelton stopped his work and attempted to placate. "Yes Mother, what is it?"  
Kelton's Mother sneered at him. She was an ugly fat old witch with a wart the size of the moon, missing teeth - the one's remaining were yellowed and stained - and wrinkly, spotted skin.  
"The tomato-carrot from your garden are too hard for my gums. I need something soft and juicy," she snapped.  
Kelton's turned to face his Mum. "Would you like something else from the garden? I would be happy to…"  
Her fists clenched and she interrupted. Forget your stupid garden! Get your grimy hind to the market and buy me some real food!"  
In the flower bed, Kelton stood up and started to walk towards the town's entrance, Ren and I following him the entire way. Once there, he studied some vegetables on display at a stall. Kelton walked over and picked out some food and placed them in his basket.  
Ren and I were on the inside of the house opposite the stall looking at Kelton. The wind chime in the window moved. Kelton noticed the chiming tune and turned towards the house and we ducked down to avoid being seen.  
Kelton looked on quizzically before turning to the stall owner. "Hello? Did you see someone?"  
The owner shook his head and Kelton shrugged before paying and heading back to the house. We continued to follow, walking along some houses on the top of a slope. Some steps were cut into the hill, Kelton walking down them. His eyes shifted from side to side after a while before he stopped and looked up.  
"Hello?" We hid away to avoid being spotted. "Is someone there?"  
Kelton frowned and walked on. Ren and I popped our heads up from our hiding spot.  
"That was him." My eyes shined with hate. "That was the monster."  
Rain began to fall and the ground got soaked.  
Kelton walked through the rain. After a while, he turned around swiftly before walking on. His eye looked behind and he stopped.  
"Nobody sneaks up on me without being burned." He suddenly dropped his basket, turned and firebended at a bush with a stream of fire, setting it ablaze. Kelton loosened his stance and picked up his fallen groceries.  
I glanced down at a thin, clear, trip wire on the ground as he walked on. His legs got caught in the fire and he fell down, face first into a puddle of water. Ren fire bended and Kelton quickly moved backwards. He looked up as Ren stood over him in a threatening firebending stance.  
"We weren't behind the bush," he said and took a step forward to threaten Kelton. "And I wouldn't try firebending again."  
Kelton was on the ground with his arm shielding his face. "Whoever you are, take my money. Take whatever you want, I'll cooperate."  
I walked in behind Ren, pulling down my face mask.  
"Do you know who I am?"  
"No," he said as he looked at me, his eyes widened in fear. "I'm not sure."  
"Oh you better remember me like your life depends on it!" Kelton placed his arm in front of his face. "Why don't you take a closer look."  
"Yes, yes. I remember you now," he said after a long moment of silence. "You're the little Water Tribe boy."  
A flash of lightning darkened my face. My world faded back to younger version of me who had just entered my house.  
"Just let him go and I'll give you the information you want," Mum said, begging as she kneeled before Kelton on the floor.  
Kelton looked down at me. "You heard your Mother, get out of here!"  
I held my hands together. "Mum, I'm scared."  
"Go find your Dad, sweetie. I'll handle this," Mum said.  
I pushed the curtain aside and ran out. The curtain parted open widely to show Kelton and Alia looking on at my fleeing figure. I stopped running when the curtain closed and went back, listening through the crack in the tent.  
"Now, tell me. Who is it? Who's the waterbender?" Kelton asked.  
"There are no waterbenders here. The Fire Nation took them all away a long time ago."  
"You're lying. My source says there's one waterbender left in The Southern Water Tribe." I heard Kelton walking closer. "We're not leaving until we find the waterbender."  
"If I tell you, do you promise to leave the rest of the village alone?"  
I peered through the crack slightly as Kelton nodded his head and made a "Hmm" sound. I trembled in fear as my mother looked up fearlessly.  
"It's me," my mother said and my eyes flew wide in shock. "Take me as your prisoner."  
Kelton smiled evilly. "I'm afraid I'm not taking prisoners today."  
Her dying scream echoed in my ears, snapping me back to the present.  
Kelton, now old and withered, gulped.  
Lightning lit up the sky once again.  
"She lied to you," I murmured as I closed my eyes sadly. "She was protecting the last waterbender."  
Kelton was surprised. "What? Who?"  
My eyes snapped wide open and I looked back furiously, filled with a dark, powerful rage that was so intense I felt ready to explode.  
"ME!"  
I brought out my arms. Rain drops got suspended in the air immediately. Kelton who looked on, dumbfounded and Ren looked up at the accumulating rain drops and pulled down his face mask. I created a rapidly increasing dome of water over us. I moved my arms around and the water got bended in a huge blob and I let out a battle cry as I directs the water towards Kelton, careful to avoid hitting Ren in the process.  
The water turned into ice spikes. Kelton shielded his self with his arms and let out a cowering noise. After a moment, he brought his arms down and he looked up.  
The ice spikes paused inches in front of him. A couple of ice spikes punctured the ground beside him. I held the hovering mass of ice spikes, warring with myself. After a moment so long it felt like an eternity had passed, I lowered my hands. Kelton covered his head as the spikes turned into water and fall to the ground harmlessly.  
He kneeled before me, terrified. "I did a bad thing. I know I did and you deserve revenge. So why don't you take my Mother? That would be fair."  
I snorted and looked on, pityingly. "I always wonder what kind of person could do such a thing. But now that I see you, I think I understand. There's just nothing inside you. Nothing at all. You're pathetic and sad and empty."  
"Please spare me," he pleaded.  
Visibly angry, I went on. "But as much as I hate you...I just can't do it."  
I closed my eyes as I fought with all my might to control my feelings. Kelton cowered and smiled weakly on the spot. Ren walked over to stand by me as I started to walk off.  
He looked at Kelton who lowered his head in shame. After a moment, Ren turned back to follow me as Kelton cowered out loud, his fallen vegetables scattered about in the mud as he continued to sob.

Ren:

We returned to our beach house in Ember Island. On the port, Kole sat near the edge.  
We had been back for over an hour now and after reuniting with Odette, I'd explained to her everything that had happened.  
As we walked out to go talk to him, Kole kicked the water as he stared out into the ocean, lost in thought.. His eyes were closed, but he opened them and stared into the distance sadly as he heard the sound of Odette's rapid running.  
"Kole!" she cried, approaching him. "Are you okay?"  
"I'm doing fine," he said.  
I came up behind her and stood a few feet away as she addressed him a little breathlessly. "Ren told me what you did. Or... what you didn't do, I guess. I'm proud of you."  
"I wanted to do it. I wanted to take out all my anger at him but, I couldn't." He huffed and closed his eyes sadly. "I don't know if it's because I'm too weak to do it or if it's because I'm strong enough not to."  
"You did the right thing. Forgiveness is the first step you have to take to begin healing," Odette said, smiling her comforting warm smile that I loved.  
Kole stood up and walked towards Odette, serious and still angry. "But I didn't forgive him. I'll never forgive him."  
After a moment, his face softened as he looked up at me. But I am ready to forgive you. For…everything."  
I held back a grimace as I heard the double meaning in his words. I couldn't imagine how painful it was to lose Odette…and that was a feeling I prayed I would never have to feel even once in my life.  
Kole walked forward and paused for a moment before holding out his hand. A little wary, I took it and shook his hand. He smiled and hugged me for a moment before parting. He laid a hand on my shoulder in a gesture of thanks, nodded, and walked off.  
I turned and looked on as Odette came over and hugged me tightly. I sighed and leaned down, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead.  
We stared at Kole's back as he walked on towards Emrys. Alana was waiting for her brother at the side of the dragon.  
"You were right about what Kole needed," I said and Odette smiled. "Violence wasn't the answer."  
"It never is."  
"Then I have a question for you." Grim, I turned towards Odette, wishing I didn't have to say what I needed to say. "What are you going to do when you face my Father?"  
Odette was stunned at the question and looked to the side, unsure and confused.  
I watched her for a moment before I smiled slightly, took her hand, and walked back towards the beach house.  
Odette would have to face my father in the coming days, and time was running out. No matter what happened next, I would be by her side. I would die before my nation or my family harmed her, and I would make sure she would come out of this war standing taller than she had ever been before.


	17. Chapter 17: The Ember Island Players

Odette:

Fire Lord Mordred's beach house was amazing, I had to admit. With the rocks and hills around it on Ember Island, it was like a tropical paradise to me.  
Ren and I were in the large courtyard, practicing the new set he had taught me. The courtyard was the perfect place for practice too. Nothing but stone, insanely big, and it also had a set of stairs and a trails that tapered off and led into the jungle beyond.  
We firebended towards a derelict fountain and taking a step back. In sync, we took a step forward and threw our arms down, firebending at the same time. We stretched out our right legs in front of us, firebending again. We then proceed to stretch it behind us and we pushed out our left arms out in a "Superman" pose as we firebend with that arm. We put our legs down and exhaled audibly, putting our arms in a cooling down position and bowing to each other.  
I loved how easy it all was for me now, fire bending without having to be afraid.  
Kole and Elise were spectating at the side in their Fire Nation disguises. Ren cracked his fingers and stretched both arms above his head and walked off. I smiled, watching him stretch for a moment - it was hard not to admire that. The guy was nothing but lean hard muscle, due to the years of training he had been put through.  
I shook my head and walked off, massaging my left shoulder as it started to ach a little.  
I looked over to see Kole looking around warily while Elise napped by his side. "Doesn't it seem kinda weird that we're hiding from the Fire Lord in his own house?"  
Ren looked up from where he was sitting at the fountain, wiping his thick hair and ruffling it even more with a yellow towel. "I told you, my Father hasn't come here since our family was actually happy. And that was a long time ago. This is the last place anyone would think to look for us."  
I looked over at the area behind Kole and Elise, listening as Alana and Tarren thundered into the courtyard. "You guys are not going to believe this. There's a play about us."  
I looked at the couple and realized that they had finally changed their outfits. The rest of us had the moment we got here - save for Ren, of course. Kole, Elise, and Alana had just used the clothing they had saved from when we had waited fro the invasion. I had lost mine but luckily for me, Ren had found me something in the house and I was now donned in one of Athera's evening outfits she used when she came here.  
"We were just in town and we found this poster," Tarren said.  
Alana unveiled the poster. It was a detailed picture of "Alana" and "Kole" with "me" in the middle of them, holding my staff. We were all wearing the same things we'd had on when we first met. I noticed with an exaggerated expression - along with Ren and Elise - that Kole had been depicted as a very muscled guy. There was an image of Ren's faded face taking up a large part of the background, giving off the appearance that he was watching us with a menacing stare. I noted with amusement that Ren's scar was on the wrong side.  
Alana ran over and showed the poster to her brother.  
"What? How is that possible?" he gaped.  
Alana flipped the poster back. "Listen to this. 'The Boy in the Iceberg is a new production from acclaimed playwright Gregory Conelly who scoured the globe gathering information on the Avatar from the icy South Pole to the heart of Eralith. His sources including singing nomads, pirates, prisoners of war and a surprisingly knowledgeable merchant of cabbage.'"  
Tarren leans in to read the last line. "'Brought to you by the critically acclaimed Ember Island Players.'"  
Alana let go of the scroll's bottom and it curled back with a decisive snap.  
"Ugh," I heard Ren groan loudly and I turned to him to see him looking at the couple with a disgusted look on his face. He slumped forward slightly as he explained. "My Mother used to take us to see them. They butchered "Love Amongst The Dragons" every year."  
I smiled and shook my head at him in amusement as Kole turned back to his sister. "Alana, do you really think it's a good idea for us to attend a play about ourselves?"  
"Come on, a day at the theatre?" Alana said and unrolled the scroll towards her brother. "This is the kind of wacky time wasting nonsense I've been missing."  
She grinned widely.

Kole:

We reached the theatre around nightfall.  
Our group walked into a private viewing box - thanks to Ren's impressive resources - on the second floor facing the stage. Elise and Odette took their seats and I immediately headed for her. I may have accepted the fact that Odette wanted Ren, but that didn't mean I couldn't do everything in my power to change her mind.  
Ren walked in the opposite direction wearing a hooded cloak and sat beside Odette, holding her hand as I confidently tried to sit next to her. Holding back a glare, I stood up and rubbed my neck.  
"Hey, uh... I wanted to sit there," I said awkwardly, pointing to Ren's spot and clenching my hands together.  
Ren lowered his hood and shrugged. "Just sit next to me, what's the big deal?"  
Odette looked at the commotion for a moment, her beautiful eye concerned, and then looked back to the stage.  
"I was just... I wanted to…" I gave up and just sat next to Ren. "Okay."  
Alana and Tarren sat in the row behind the four of us.  
The lights in the theater dimmed down as Elise spoke. "Why are we sitting in the nose bleed section? My feet can't see a thing from up here."  
Odette laughed. "Don't worry, I'll tell your feet what's happening."  
I huffed in annoyance and turned my attention to the stage as the curtain was drawn up to reveal a prop of a canoe surrounded by moving set decorations of water. The backdrop was a crude painting of icebergs. The Kole and Alana actors were rowing the canoe with their oars.  
I brightened, feeling excited as I saw us being portrayed. A hand touched my shoulder and I looked up, smiling at my sister as Alana pointed to me and back to herself rapidly. She made little sounds of astonishment, her eyes glimmering with delight. Kole's actor was buck-toothed and thinner than the actual me. His "wolf-tail" was an overly large ponytail bun.  
Actor Kole sighed. "Alana, my only sister. We constantly roam these icy South Pole seas and yet never do we find anything fulfilling."  
Oh. My. God.  
Actor Kole was no actor…more like an actress!  
I stiffened in disbelief. "Wait, is that a woman playing me?"  
Actress Alana was much more developed and bigger sized than the real Alana and her clothes were a little revealing. She had too much blush on her cheeks as well.  
"All I want is a full feeling in my stomach, I'm starving!" the actress said.  
The audience near the stage laughed heartily as Alana and I looked at each other in disbelief. The audience in front of the stage were now looking at the boat.  
"Is food the only thing on your mind?" Actress Kole said.  
"Well, I'm trying to get it out of my mind and," Actress Alana pointed to her mouth, "into my mouth. I'm starving."  
The audience laughed once again.  
"This is pathetic," Alana complained and pointed to herself. "My jokes are way funnier than this."  
Elise laughed and we looked at her. "I think she's got you pegged."  
I glowered and turned back to the stage as actress Kole stood up while actress Alana continued paddling.  
"Everyday, the World awaits a beacon to guide us, yet none appears. Still, we cannot give up hope," Actress Kole said and placed her hand to her chest in a melodramatic way, sniffling. "For hope is all we have and we must never relinquish it. Even...even to our dying breath."  
She pretended to cry hysterically.  
I was thoroughly un-amused as Tarren and Alana laughed. "Well, that's just silly. I don't sound like that. And I am not a woman!"  
Elise giggled and clutched her stomach. "Oh man, this writer's a genius."  
Actress Kole was still crying as white-blue light illuminated behind her. She looked up in a "dainty" way.  
A iceberg prop slowly moved to the center of the stage. A cut out of Odette swayed from side to side on a stick inside the iceberg.  
"It appears to be someone frozen in ice. Perhaps for a hundred years," Actress Kole gasped.  
Actress Alana leaned forward. "But who? Who is the girl in the iceberg?"  
Odette grabbed the railings in anticipation while Ren looked on, bored.  
Don't expect too much, I thought bitterly.  
Actress Kole was already on top of the iceberg prop. Actress Alana was still climbing up.  
"Waterbend, hai-ya!" Actress Kole cried.  
She performed a chopping motion and the Odette cut out was pulled down. Cracks appeared on the iceberg and it opened with the interior smoking. The actors looked at each other in mock surprise as a lady dressed as Odette jumped out, winked and posed. Like actress Alana, her makeup was heavy.  
I glanced over at Odette who was repulsed by the frilly froo froo performance.  
Actress Kole gasped. "Who are you, frozen girl?"  
Actress Odette giggled and balanced tip toed on one leg. She pirouetted on her balancing leg. "I'm the Avatar, silly. Here to spread joy and fun."  
My attention was pulled back to the iceberg as a shaggy, white Chinese lion got-up from traditional Chinese lion dancers and popped out from the remnants of the iceberg and moved from side to side. It jumped off the iceberg and the Emrys lion circled round the iceberg and made a gruff animal noise. The two dancers controlling the lion costume hade worn shaggy pants to show that Emrys had legs.  
Actress Kole gasped. "An airbender. My heart is so full of hope that it's making me tearbend."  
She dropped to her knees and grabbed Actress Odette's leg and cried.  
"My stomach is so empty that it's making me tear bend!" Actress Alana dropped to her knees and grabbed actress Odette's other leg and sobbed. "I need meat."  
Actress Odette kneeled down and placed an arm around actress Alana's shoulder and pointed to the ceiling above the audience. "But wait. Is that a platter of meaty dumplings?"  
I glanced over at Odette who was visibly unamused and was slumped against the railing.  
Actress Alana looked around. "Where? Where?"  
Actress Odette giggled uncontrollably and crossed her legs. "Did I mention that I'm an incurable prankster?"  
The audience laughed.  
Odette leaned forward, irritated. "I don't do that. That's not what I'm like! And...Ugh!"  
Elise laughed out loud as the rest of us turned to look at her. "Oh, they nailed you, Twinkle Toes."  
Odette slumped onto the railing again and Ren put a comforting arm around her.

Ren:

My ship entered with actor Ren poised near the front of the ship, looking through a telescope.  
Uncle was portrayed a little more accurately, thankfully. "Prince Ren, you must try this cake."  
He brought up a whole cake on a plate but one slice missing.  
Actor Ren was in my Fire Nation armor with a long ponytail. His scar was on the wrong side.  
"I don't have time to stuff my face," the actor yelled. His voice was rougher and deeper than mine. He lowered the telescope and faced the audience. "I must capture the Avatar to regain my honor!"  
"Well, while you do that, maybe I'll capture another slice."  
Actor Uncle proceeded to bring the plate of cake to his mouth and made loud, masticating noises  
"You sicken me." Actor Ren looked through the telescope again.  
Kole looked very amused by the entire thing.  
"They make me totally stiff and humorless," I growled, unhappy.  
Kole snorted. "Actually, I think that actor's pretty spot on."  
I looked to him and stretched both arms out. "How could you say that?"  
Actor Ren was still looking through the telescope as actor Uncle appeared behind him. "Let's forget about the Avatar and get massages."  
Actor Ren turned back to actor Uncle, outraged. "How could you say that?!"  
Kole wore a satisfied grin on his face and he looked to an expressionless me as I slouched in my seat.

Odette:

I looked, unimpressed, at the backdrop of the Southern Air Temple as actress Odette looked around. A tail stuck out from a nearby bush prop. She spotted the tail.  
"Hey look," she said and the tail slinked deeper into the bush. She tip toed towards the bush and reached in. The Water Tribe actors looked at each other, puzzled. "I think I found something."  
Actress Odette stepped away from the bush with a large puppet of Fang sitting on her shoulder. "It's a grey spider wolf. I think I'll name him, Fang."  
Actress Odette giggled wildly. She attempted ventriloquism but failed since one side of her mouth was obviously open. "Hi, everybody. I love you."  
The audience laughed while I sighed with disgust and placed two fingers on my temple, moving the skin around and trying to block the headache that was well on it's way to becoming a migraine.

Alana:

An actor Tarren was peeking out from behind a fan. He was holding two fans in his hands as he raised them above his head. His head gear and the area around his waist were exaggeratedly big.  
Actress Alana walked backwards into the scene, sticking her rear end out as she did so. "Does this dress make my butt look fat?"  
She pointed to her bottom.  
The real Tarren struggled to contain his laughter and looked me while I blushed madly.  
Wonderful.

Kole:

A backdrop of Naliwen was pulled up as actor Bumi in a bodysuit popped into scene.  
"Riddles and challenges must you face," the actor said as actress Odette avoided a swinging rock and actress Kole was being surrounded by props of green genemite crystals. "If you are ever to leave this place."  
Alana ran on stage, being chased by someone wearing a Flopsie suit. Actor Bumi laughed hysterically.  
Actress Kole sighed melodramatically as she disappeared behind the prop crystals as one part of the prop rose, hiding her completely.  
Um…puke?  
I stuck my tongue out at the scene.  
The stage changed again after a while to a scene with a pirate ship in the backdrop. The leading characters stood at the center of the stage. To the left side of the stage three pirates armed with prop weapons appeared while three on the other side entered at the same time. The trio - with actress Kole clutching an overly large scroll prop and actress Alana holding a blunt boomerang prop - squatted down as the pirates ambushed them. The three of them slid out from underneath a pirate's skirt as the six pirates fought and slowly moved offstage.  
"Why did you have to steal that waterbending scroll?" Actress Alana hissed as they tip toed away.  
"It just gave me so much hope!" the actress sobbed, gasping fro breath dramatically.  
I looked on, unamused as actress Kole sobbed away.

Ren:

A stagehand hiding behind the backdrop worked away as lightning flashed through the stage. He lifted up a metal sheet and wobbled it around to make the sound of thunder.  
Actress Odette was being tied to a raised dragon platform with Fire Nation guards at the bottom.  
"The Avatar is mine!" Actor Ren cried. He looked to the side and pointed. "Wait, who's coming?"  
I looked to the side of the stage as a spotlight shined on an actor wearing a large tiki Blue Spirit mask that covered his whole body. "I am the Blue Spirit. The scourge of the Fire Nation here to save the Avatar."  
The Blue Spirit actor appeared and waved his swords about. The guards behind him fell to the ground, defeated. Actor Ren ran behind the dragon platform. Actor Blue Spirit continued walking on and waved his swords about and the remaining guards dropped down. Actor Ren appeared from the other side of the platform and threw a red streamer symbolizing firebending at the Blue Spirit's feet and the Blue Spirit jumped to avoid the streamer. The Blue Spirit thrust out his sword as actor Ren ran offstage.  
Wow…what a coward they thought I was.  
Actress Odette beamed. "My hero."  
She jumped off the platform and sat on top of the tiki mask and the Blue Spirit walked offstage.  
Odette and I glanced over at each other and smiled slightly, amused.  
Only she and I would ever know the truth of that day.

Kole:

The stagehand turned a wheel.  
I looked at the backdrop of the Freedom Fighter's hide out as actress Kole and actress Detra - with a rose in her mouth and heavily exaggerated anime-like hair - were lowered into scene on a platform. Actress Kole mock sobbed out loud.  
"Don't cry, baby!" Actress Detra held actress Kole close to her. "Detra will wipe out that nasty town for you."  
Actress Kole tipped actress Detra's chin up as a stagehand clad in black pulled a large, blue sheet of cloth symbolizing water across the stage. The platform rose.  
Actress Kole replied sultrily. "Oh Detra, you're so bad."  
Elise giggled manically while I held my head in embarrassment, wishing I could just fall through the floor.

Odette:

A prop of Emrys flew across the stage with the leading actors sitting in the saddle. Actress Odette sat on the saddle's side instead of prop Emrys's head.  
Actress Odette spoke enthusiastically, pointing down. "Look, it's The Great Divide. The biggest canyon in the Earth Kingdom."  
Actress Alana looked down and threw her arm to the side dismissively. "Meh. Let's keep flying."  
Huh…they actually got that part pretty dead on. Shocking.

Alana:

The stagehand was now holding a sack of fake snow and ruffling it so that the fake snowflakes fell out consistently. The scene had turned to a bridge with a wave symbol on stage. Actress Alana and actor Falcon were standing at the center of the bridge.  
That hurt…a lot.  
"Don't go, Falcon," actress Alana begged, grasping his hands. "You're the only man whose ever taken my mind off of food."  
Tears burned in my eyes as the two kissed audibly.  
Actor Falcon had an overly large and exaggerated white hair wig and he was wearing pink instead of white.  
Actress Alana suddenly gagged and stuck her tongue out. "Wait, did you have pickled fish for dinner?"  
Wow.  
"Goodbye, Alana." Actor Falcon rose slowly as their hands parted. It almost felt like I was losing him all over again.  
"I have important Moon duties to take care of." Actor Falcon was now sitting on a crescent Moon prop as it slowly got pulled up. The train of his skirt - which was weird enough - was quite long and trailed a few feet below the Moon prop. "And yes, I did have pickled fish."  
Actress Alana raised her arms up to the departing Falcon.  
By this point, I really did have tears in my eyes and my hands were on my chin.  
Tarren giggled as my mouth quivered animatedly as I fought back tears. "You never told me you made out with the Moon Spirit."  
I placed a finger on Tarren's lips. "Shh. I'm trying to watch."  
I let the tears flow freely as Tarren crossed his arms, annoyed.

Odette:

Fire Nation boats were being dragged across the stage a few scenes later. A foot kicked the cut outs aside. A doll of Zhao was clutched in the hand of the Ocean Spirit - actress Odette under a large costume.  
Actress Odette laughed insanely. "The Avatar is back to save the day! Yay!"  
She jumped and crushed the cut out as she landed. She proceeded to kick another ship cut out offstage. She stomped around and destroyed the remaining cut outs as she fell flat on her stomach due to the weight of the costume. The curtain was lowered.  
Sad.  
In our viewing box, Elise and the rest of the audience applauded and cheered. Kole stared bewildered at the closing scene. I groaned and threw my entire body forward. Ren brought the hood up on his head. Alana brought her palm to her face, visibly displeased.

Ren:

Outside the theatre looking at the sea, our group was sitting on a flight of steps on a balcony. Alana walked down the steps.  
"So far, this intermission is the best part of the play," I grumbled, unhappy that I had wasted money on this. Granted it was my family's money and I could care less about them but still.  
Alana continued to walk down as Tarren looked on, amused as she sat down and reached into a small bag of food.  
"Apparently, the playwright thinks I'm an idiot who tells bad jokes about meat all the time," Alana growled as she took out a strip of seasoned meat. She bit off part of the strip and chewed loudly and irritably.  
"Yeah, you tell bad jokes about plenty of other topics," Tarren teased, bumping her lightly with his elbow.  
Alana swallowed and took another angry bite. "I know!"  
I refrained from rolling my eyes.  
"At least the Alana actor kinda looks like you," Kole said. He was sitting at the bottom of the steps with Elise standing in front of him. "That woman playing me doesn't resemble me at all. And I'm NOT a preachy crybaby who can't resist giving overemotional speeches about hope all the time."  
"I don't know, you are more in touch with your feminine side than most guys," Elise said nonchalantly.  
Kole stood up and made an annoyed sound, looking ready to strangle the little blind girl.  
"Relax, Kole," Odette said calmly and he turned around to where she was sitting at the top of the steps beside me. "They're not accurate portrayals. It's not like I'm a giggly, frilly, powder puff who is afraid to break a nail all the time and can't stick up for herself."  
She paused for a moment and look around the stairs as everyone looked at her skeptically - except for me. Apparently I was the only one who knew those things weren't true. Either that or I was on something.  
"What?" she asked, slightly offended.  
"Yeah," Kole sighed and sat down. "That's not you at all."  
Elise started speaking before I could make a snappy retort at him.  
"Listen, friends. It's obvious that the playwright did his research. I know it must hurt but what you're seeing up there on that stage is the truth," she said.  
Easy for you to say…

Odette:

Back inside, the play opened up again with a backdrop of the Earth Kingdom.  
"Well, here we are in the Earth Kingdom," actress Kole said.  
Actress Odette opened a mini glider prop in her hand. "I better have a look around to see if I can find an earthbending teacher."  
A rope attached to her back pulled her up and started to fly her around.  
Elise perked up excitedly. "This is it! This must be where I come in."  
Ren brought a parchment closer to his face while Kole looked on worriedly and Alana appeared bored. This should be interesting.  
Actress Odette flew one round above the audience and back to the stage.  
"I flew all over town but I couldn't find a single earthbending master," she said and actress Kole and actress Alana acted horrified and sad.  
Elise clenched her fist in anticipation. "Here it comes."  
A rock prop got lifted by a well built man wearing Elise's outfit who appeared from a trap door under the prop. "You can't find an earthbending master in the sky, you have to look underground."  
He threw the rock prop over the leading trio's heads.  
Everyone in our viewing box burst out into wild bouts of laughter. Ren dropped his parchment in shock and stared wide-eyed at the scene.  
He was so cute, I thought as tears streamed out of my eyes from laughing so hard.  
Actress Odette pointed to actor Elise. "Who are you?"  
Actor Elise spat a huge was of spit and flexed his overly large muscles. "My name is Elise…the toughest earthbender in the world. And that's just what I am. Tough."  
I looked over at Elise who turned her head to side, straining to hear the words.  
"Wait a minute." She used her pinkie to clear her ear, shocked. "I sound like...a guy. A really buff guy."  
She suddenly smiled.  
Dang.  
Kole, not noticing her expression, attempted to make fun of her. "Well Elise, what you hear up there is the truth. It hurts, doesn't it?"  
Elise grinned from ear to ear. "Are you kidding me? I wouldn't have cast it any other way. At least it's not a fat, sniveling lady."  
Kole appeared to be annoyed at the revelation and even more so by the last comment.  
I shook my head and returned my attention to the stage.  
"So, you're blind?" actress Odette asked.  
She waved her hands in front of actor Elise's face.  
Actor Elise laughed and pointed to actress Odette. "I can see you doing that. I see everything that you see except that I don't see like you do. I release a sonic wave from my mouth."  
He turned towards the leading trio and screamed a bloodcurdling, booming scream that could have made the windows explode. The trio who leaned back and their clothes fluttered from the strong vibrations. The audience cringed and covered their ears but Elise looked on happily. After a ridiculously long moment, actor Elise stopped and turned back to the audience.  
"There," he said and the leading trio looked on, impressed. "I got a pretty good look at you."  
The audience applauded.

Ren:

The stagehand tilted a spotlight up.  
Actor Uncle and actor Ren were standing on a bridge facing each other as the light cast huge shadows on the backdrop.  
"Ren, it's time we had a talk," actor Uncle said and points to actor Ren. "About your hair. It's gone too far."  
I rolled my eyes. The actor Ren was now wearing a wig with ridiculously long hair. Both of the actors were still in Fire Nation uniform.  
"Maybe it's best if we…" Actor Ren turned his head away, "split up."  
He turned and both of them walked away from each other.  
Not long after, the scene changed to where the six of us had cornered Athera in the abandoned Earth Kingdome village.  
Actor Ren was shouting obnoxiously. "Athera! My sister. What are you doing here?"  
Actress Athera was dressed with a pink torso armor instead of red and like the other female actresses, she had heavy eye makeup.  
"You caught me. Wait. What's that?" She pointed to the ceiling above the audience. "I think it's your honor."  
All six actors turned towards the audience as actress Athera opened a door and escaped.  
"Where?" Actor Ren cried desperately and I groaned  
The six turned back to the empty corner.  
"She escaped. But how?" Actor Kole gasped.

Odette:

A stagehand sitting on a stool in the dark turned a contraption above him. The sheets around him moved as he did so. Alternating dark and light slanted lines moved across the stage, the drill prop drilling through a prop wall supported by the black clad stagehands. Actress Athera stood on top of the drill while actress Odette stood on top of the wall.  
"If she continues drilling, this wall will come down for sure," Actress Odette gasped.  
No? Really? I thought, sarcastic.  
The wall beneath the actress shook and swayed unsteadily.  
A black clad hand brought up a rock prop from behind actress Odette and she took it, throwing it towards actress Athera.  
Actress Athera swiped the rock prop away with her arm. "Haha, yes! Continue drilling. The city of Eralith can't hide no longer."  
The drill continued penetrating the wall. Actress Odette continued to throw rocks provided by the stagehand. One of the rocks hit actress Athera but she blocked it. I looked around and noticed with amusement that the audience were either sleeping, yawning, or just plain uninterested at the scene. Some of them struggled to stay awake.

Kole:

A backdrop of a prison door in Eralith with the green spooky glow was what came onto the stage next.  
Actress Detra came into scene, slashing her hooksword arm prop as she did so. She was wearing a pair of crazy eye glasses as the tiny black beads representing her pupils swirled around to show that she had gone insane. Actress Detra twirled around on the spot, swinging her arms around.  
"No, Detra!" actress Odette cried. The audience appeared horrified and scared at the scene. Actress Detra was crouching like a primate and she had a slight pot belly. "What did they do to you?"  
"Must." Actress Detra swiped her hooksword arm towards actress Odette unsteadily. "Serve. Earth King!" She turned and swiped actress Alana who ducked. "Must... Destroy!"  
A stagehand on top looking down at the scene threw down a rock prop. Actress Detra made various agonizing noises. She swung around violently and grabbed her head as if she was having a fit. The rock prop slowly floated into stage. Actress Detra crawled on her knees to ensure that she was underneath the rock prop as it landed. The prop fell on her, covering the upper part of her body but her legs popped out from under the rock. Actress Detra brought her legs into the prop.  
We were all shocked and speechless for a moment.  
Ren wasn't as concerned but still surprised. "Did Detra just... Die?"  
Alana shrugged, brushing it off. "You know, it was really unclear."

Odette:

Things got a little awkward when the backdrop changed to one of the crystal catacombs of Eralith.  
"I have to admit, Prince Ren. I really find you attractive," actress Odette said dreamily.  
Actor Ren was sitting on a crystal prop with his legs crossed.  
"You don't have to make fun of me," he hissed and actress Odette cringed at his harshness.  
"But I mean it." She proceeded to sit down beside actor Ren. "I had eyes for you since the day you first captured me."  
Ren and I looked sheepishly at each other, knowing that the things that were being said down there were more than true, even if we hadn't said them at the time. I looked over slightly at Kole who frowned and looked serious. He grabbed the railings, looking at the stage intently.  
"Wait." Actor Ren stood up. "I thought you were the waterbender's girl."  
Kole nodded and I winced. How could he possibly still think that? Couldn't he see that he and I would never work…that I loved Ren and only Ren?  
Actress Odette laughed. She stood up and walked towards actor Ren.  
"Kole? Why, he's like a little brother to me." She laughed some more. Kole looked saddened and his eyes turned towards me but I pretended that I didn't notice. "I certainly don't think of him in a romantic way. Besides, how could he ever find out about this."  
The actors held each others' hands in an embrace.  
Kole stood up in irritation.  
Alana straightened and whispered as he passed.  
"Oh, you're getting up? Can you get me some fire flakes?" Tarren laid his arm across her shoulder as she rested against him. She sat up again to whisper back as Tarren appeared irritated at the sudden gesture. "Oh and fire gummies."  
He laid his arm on Alana's shoulder again as Tarren looked down at her, rather annoyed.

Ren:

Actor Ren on center stage, actress Athera on the left with a Fire Nation banner behind her and actor Uncle on the right with an Earth Kingdom banner behind him. A spotlight shined down on actor Ren.  
"Well, my brother. What's it going to be?" Actress Athera asked. Actor Ren made several gestures of confusion and deep thought. "Your nation or a life of treachery?"  
Actor Uncle drank from a bowl. "Choose treachery, it's more fun."  
He did a thumbs-up.  
After a moment, actor Ren walked to actor Uncle and the spotlight followed him, so I could see every painful moment and memory with crystal clarity.  
The universe loved to punish me didn't it?  
Actress Athera was irate. "No way!"  
Actor Ren shoved actor Uncle who dropped his bowl of beverage and landed on his back like an upturned turtle. Actor Ren walked towards actress Athera.  
Actor Ren pointed a finger at the fallen actor as he sat up. "I hate you, Uncle. You smell and I hate you for all time."  
The "Fire siblings" walked offstage as the Earth Kingdom banner fell on top of actor Uncle.  
In our viewing box, Odette covered her mouth in shock while I leaned on the railing somberly.  
"You didn't really say that, did you?" she asked softly.  
I turned my head away, ashamed. "I might as well have."  
She thought for a moment before smiling softly. She reached over and turned my face to her so I was looking her in the eye. Her soft fingers gently brushed over my scar and I shivered, feeling my heart pounding in my chest.  
"Sometimes, you have to look back on your past and smile at how far you've come," she said, and kissed my lightly on the lips.  
I considered her words and knew she was right. I smiled slightly and nodded, returning my attention back to the horrible play.  
Back on the stage, actress Naveen stood up from the smoke. Her outfit was mostly accurate but she had a passive smile and her belt buckle and her hair buns were exaggeratedly large with a knife in each of them. She took a knife from her hair and thrust it out. A black clad stagehand carried it across the stage to hit the back of an actor Earth Kingdom soldier's shirt and he got pulled back by a wire to show that the impact of the knife threw him backwards.  
The backdrop was the Earth King's throne room. The Earth King and Bosco's costume appeared to be sewn together. The Earth King looked like a little boy sitting on Bosco's lap who was sitting on the throne. Another actor Earth Kingdom soldier got into a fighting stance. Actress Kenna - who was much bigger sized than the actual Kenna with heavy makeup - came into screen and kissed the tips of her fingers. She proceeded to tap her fingers on the actor soldier's shoulder and the soldier froze up, stuck his tongue out and fell down. Actress Naveen joined actress Kenna in the center of the stage in a finishing pose.  
The audience applauded and I just shook my head.  
Actress Odette appeared from behind the throne and somersaulted to the center of the stage.  
"Avatar State, yip yip," she cried.  
The lights on stage dimmed and her arrow glowed in the dark. She closed her eyes and her eye shadow glowed to show that the real Odette's tattoos and eyes glowed in the Avatar State. A black clad stagehand secured a rope behind her and she got lifted into the air. The sleeves of actress Naveen's costume and the skirt of actress Kenna's glowed in the dark as well. Actress Athera jumped out from the smoke on the floor into the air.  
Actress Athera whipped out a blue streak of cloth. Various parts of her armor were glowing in the dark. "Not if my lightning can't help it!"  
Actress Odette opened her eyes slightly to catch the blue cloth. The cloth wobbled and shook as actress Odette pretended to go into spasms.  
It felt like I was being electrocuted all over again as I remembered the real Odette, writhing in pain because of me.  
Actress Athera shook the clothing as she got lowered to the stage. Actress Odette let go of the cloth and the rope lowered her to the floor. The audience looked on, bewildered.  
I stared at actress Odette as her hunched body reached the floor. Actresses Naveen, Kenna and Athera jumped in front of actress Odette's body in a final pose.  
Actress Athera raised her arms in triumph. "The Avatar is no more!"  
In the viewing box, as the audience cheered, Odette found my hand in the darkness and gripped it tightly, holding it in her lap. It was her simple way of letting me know it was okay, she had forgiven me.  
Alana appeared to be offended, Elise leaned against the railing, while Tarren crossed his arms and shook his head.  
I brought my hand to my face, not wanting to be reminded of that day ever again.

Odette:

Inside the theatre, various people were standing around making small talk.  
"It seems like every time there's a big battle you guys barely make it out alive. I mean, you guys lose a lot," Tarren said, smiling impishly.  
On the second floor, we all were lounging about, Ren the only one seated on the floor. He had been pretty miserable after the last scene and I wished there was something I could do to help him. But there wasn't - he had to work through it on his own.  
Tarren smirked as Alana turned on him.  
"You're one to talk, Tarren. Didn't Athera take you captive? That's right, she did," the water tribe warrior snapped defensively.  
He frowned and acted serious. "Are you trying to get on my bad side?"  
"I'm just saying," she shot back matter-of-factly.  
I looked around, tapping my foot worriedly as I glanced down the different hallways. "Does anyone know where Kole is?"  
"He left to get me fire gummies like, ten minutes ago," Alana said. She leaned against the wall and folded her arms impatiently. "And I'm still waiting."  
"I'm going to check outside," I said and walked off.  
I made for the outside of the theatre, looking at the sea. Kole was standing alone at the balcony. His back was illuminated by the light as I opened the door further. The lights diminished as the door closed again. Unsure, I walked over and stopped behind him.  
"Are you alright?" I asked.  
"No, I'm not. I hate this play."  
I walked forward, trying to keep calm. "I know it's upsetting but it sounds like you're overreacting."  
He turns towards me and went into an outburst. "Overreacting? If I hadn't blocked my chakra, I'd probably be in the Avatar State right now."  
He leaned back onto the railing and I gulped.

Ren:

A little boy cosplaying as Odette suddenly ran out of a door crying, "Wheeee!" all the way down the hallway.  
Tarren and Alana looked at the boy.  
"Tarren, what are the chances you can get me backstage. I got some jokes I want to give to the actor me," Alana said, grinning sneakily.  
I looked up at Tarren's face as he employed a serious and no-nonsense attitude. "I'm an elite warrior who's trained for many years in the art of stealth." He paused for a moment before smiling widely. "I think I can get you backstage."  
Both of them walked off.  
Elise snorted. "Jeez. Everyone's getting so upset about their characters. Even you seem more down than usual and that's saying something."  
I glowered at her and shook my head.  
"You don't get it." I looked up at Elise who leaned against the wall smiling to herself. "It's different for you. You get a muscley version of yourself taking down ten bad guys at once and making sassy remarks."  
"Yeah, that's pretty great."  
Full of regret, despite what Odette said, I went on.  
"But for me, it takes all the mistakes I've made in my life and shove them back in my face. My Uncle. He's always been on my side even when things were bad. He was there for me. He taught me so much and how do I repay him? With a knife in his back. It's my greatest regret and I may never get to redeem myself."  
I lowered my head, ashamed.  
Elise was quiet for a moment before she sat down. "You have redeemed yourself to your Uncle. You don't realize it but you already have."  
"How do you know?"  
"Because I once had a long conversation with the guy and all he would talk about was you," she said.  
Surprised, I lowered my hood and smiled, touched.  
"Really?"  
"Yeah, and it was kind of annoying."  
"Oh, sorry."  
"But it was also very sweet," she said and I smiled, happy. "All your Uncle wanted was for you to find your own path and see the light. Now you're here with us. You're here with Odette. He'd be proud."  
She was right. He would be proud…and he would be bursting with happiness that I had finally found someone like Odette. I desperately needed her in my life…I needed all of them.  
Elise proceeded to give me a punch on the shoulder.  
"Ow," I gasped, surprised and rubbed my now sore arm. "What was that for?"  
Hell she could hit hard.  
Elise simply smiled. "That's how I show affection."  
The little boy exited from the same door again. He glanced over and paused in front of me.  
"Your Ren costume is pretty good but your scar's on the wrong side," he said innocently.  
He pointed to the right side of my face as my jaw dropped in shock.  
Okay, gooshy moment over.  
He ran off again as I attempted to still my anger.  
Furious, I pointed to my face. "The scar is not on the wrong side!"  
Annoyed, I brought up my hood again and waited for Odette to return.

Alana:

Backstage, as the actors rested and talked to each other, Tarren and I appeared at the doorway.  
Sounds of footsteps came towards the doorway.  
"She's coming this way," Tarren whispered.  
I peered out to see actress Alana walking with her hand on her chin. Taking my chance, I swiftly popped up in front of her.  
Actress Alana frowned. "Can I help you?"  
I smiled sweetly and pointed to her. "Actually, I think I can help you. I'm a big Alana fan but I don't think you're representing her quite as well as you could be."  
"Oh no…" Actress Alana brought her hand to her head and turned and walked away. "Another fan with ideas."  
I swiftly stepped in front of her, blocking her path. I placed both arms out in front of her.  
"Just hear me out. Here's something I think the real Alana would say." I rummaged through my belt and pulled up several cue cards. I shuffled through the cards and picked one card out from the pile and cleared my throat. "'What does the cabbage merchant use to fix his cabbages?' A cabbage patch.'"  
I looked behind me to see Tarren smack his forehead behind me.  
Rude.  
Actress Alana laughed and Tarren was surprised.  
Haha.  
"That's actually pretty good," the actress said. I smiled and offered the cue cards. "Let me see those. Haha. Rocky relationship. Not bad."  
I ducked and appeared at actress Alana's side, holding her shoulder as we began to walk off. "Also, don't be afraid to make up some phrases. Especially before an attack. Something like "Flying Kick-A-Pow!'"  
"Who are you, anyway?" she asked me.  
I shrugged. "I'm just a girl who likes comedy."

Kole:

The full moon shined down with some clouds passing by.  
"Odette, did you really mean what you said in there?" I asked, knowing the answer as I turned, crossed my arms and leaned back against the railing.  
Odette turned her head towards me. "In where? What are you talking about?"  
Irritated, I clenched my fists and threw a hand out towards the theater. "On stage. When you said I was just like a brother to you and you didn't have feelings for me."  
It hurt even worse hearing myself say it.  
Odette turned her body towards me and looked at me warily. She didn't say anything for a long while - her silence was more than enough for the answer.  
"I didn't say that," she said softly and I felt my heart break all over again. "An actor said that."  
"But it's true, isn't it?" I sighed, depressed. "We kissed at the invasion and I thought we were going to be together but we're not."  
"Kole…" she shook her head. "I don't know what to tell you."  
"Why don't you know?"  
"Because we're in the middle of a war and we have other things to worry about. This isn't the right time. And you seem to be forgetting one crucial fact. I'm. In love. With Ren. I can't ignore that."  
I was beginning to grow impatient with her. "Well, when is the right time to deal with this?"  
"Kole, I'm sorry but you and I…it's not going to happen. I love you. But I'm not in love with you. He's everything to me, Kole. I can't lose him," she said, her words cutting into me like knives.  
I looked to the side. And I couldn't lose her.  
Taking a chance, I leaned forward and pecked her soft, wonderful lips. She opened her eyes and took a step back, shocked.  
"I just said that I was in love with someone else!" she hissed angrily, visibly displeased. She glared at me and then let out a huff of annoyance. "I'm going inside."  
She walked off, leaving me alone again.  
Disgusted with myself, I turned my head towards the sea and rapped my head several times.  
"Argh!" I brought my head down to the railing, defeated. "I'm such an idiot!"  
Odette was gone…and she was never coming back.

Odette:

Ugh! The nerve of that waterbender! I couldn't believe he had just done that…especially since he knew about Ren and I! Just…just…Gha!  
I huffed angrily as I took my seat in the viewing box besides Ren.  
"Uh-oh. What's wrong?" he said, giving me a look.  
I shrugged and looked straight ahead, not wanting to talk about it. "Nothing."  
He snorted and I raised my eyebrows. "Come on Odette I know you better than that. Something's wrong and I want you to tell me."  
"Why?"  
"So I can fix it," he insisted and poked me playfully in the ribs.  
I winced slightly. I really didn't want him 'fixing' anything.  
He continued to stare at me with warm, trusting eyes and finally - after almost ten minute - I gave in and sighed heavily.  
"Kole kissed me."  
I looked at him, worried as I saw his expression harden. He worked his jaw for a moment before he turned away and leaned back, staring straight ahead as he tried to control his unpredictable temper.  
"Ren?" I asked after a moment.  
"I'm fine," he said and looked at me reassuringly. "I do wonder though, did you like it?"  
I was so socked all I could do was stare at him. "What!"  
He shrugged. "Did you like it?"  
"No! of course not you moron!" I hissed and smacked him on the back of the head.  
He smiled slightly and pulled me to him, kissing me for a moment before hugging me. "Just checking."  
I pushed him away angrily, offended. "Why on earth would you even need to ask that."  
"Because…" he was quiet for a moment before going on, looking uncomfortable and even a bit embarrassed. "I don't want any one else to have your heart, kiss your lips, be in your arms, be the one you love. I don't want anyone to take my place."  
I stared at him, stunned again. After a moment, a big goofy smile broke out over my face and I felt my heart warming. "You're my idiot and I need you."  
He smiled and hissed me again, his eyes warm and golden brown and soft. "Your love has changed me so very much. People say I am a different person now which is true because before I would have been on my way to light his head on fire right now. I guess when you fall in love, everything changes."  
Smiling and content, I rested my head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. He kissed the top of my head and I felt him smile before we resumed watching the play.  
Kole entered the box an hour later with a sour expression and sat in the same row as Alana and Tarren. He brought his knees up to his chest and refused to look anywhere else but at the stage.  
Good.  
"Here's what you missed," Alana whispered to him. She counted the scenes with her fingers. "We went to the Fire Nation and Odette got better and you were the Painted Lady and I got a sword and I think Combustion Man died. Ooo look, The Invasion's about to start. Shh."  
He sighed and lowered his head down to his knees.  
The audience in front of the stage looked at the scene where the submarines surfaced during the invasion. Actresses Kole and Odette were standing on top of the submarine prop.  
"I just want to let you know Kole, that I'll always love you." Actress Odette placed her hands across her heart and took a deep breath. "Like a brother."  
Well that was helpful.  
"I wouldn't want it any other way," actress Kole said and swung an arm around her body in friendship.  
They shook each other's hands and nodded in a friendly gesture. Actress Odette unfolded her mini glider and the rope pulled her up. Actress Kole waved goodbye.  
Kole blushed at the scene and put his hands over his face while all I could do was looked away sadly.  
On stage, actresses Kole and Alana and actor Elise were standing on the submarine looking around.  
"Hey Elise, would you say you and Odette have a rocky relationship?" actress Alana asked.  
Alana went ballistic and laughed to herself, grabbing her head and then grabbing Tarren by his shoulders while Kole buried his head completely in his arms.  
Alana lifted his arms up, oblivious. "I told him to say that."  
She let go and Kole appeared annoyed. I ignored them and watched the three actors on the submarine who appeared bored except for actress Alana.  
"I hope everyone's ready for The Invasion," actress Alana said and thrust her arms out in a stance. "Slop-A-Pow!"  
Actress Kole and actor Elise were surprised by the line and the audience laughed. Alana once again laughed to herself and thumped her lap in approval. Tarren looked at his girlfriend weirdly but smiled since she was enjoying herself so much.  
They really were perfect for each other. Now if only Kole could find that…all our problems would be solved.

Ren:

The curtain was drawn up. Two black clad stagehands pushed the Fire Lord's throne to the center of the stage and ran offstage as actress Kole and actor Elise and Alana ran on stage. Actress Odette got lowered in front of the throne set decoration by a rope and the spotlight shined on her.  
"We finally made it to the royal palace but no one's home," actress Odette exclaimed.  
Actor Ren walked onto stage and another spotlight shined on him.  
"Actually, I'm home and I want to join you," he said.  
Actress Alana was poised in an attacking position. After a moment she lowered her boomerang prop. "I guess we have no choice. Come on."  
She gestured to actor Ren to follow her and everyone ran offstage while actress Odette got pulled up.  
"I guess that's it." Alana stood up and stretched. "The play's caught up to the present now."  
"Wait," Tarren said as he tugged on Alana's shirt and pulled her back down to her seat. "The play's not over."  
"But it is over." She put her hand on her chin in deep thought. "Unless…This is the future."  
Her eyes got crazy and she spoke in a spooky tone. I gave her a weird look, half expecting her to start drooling or something.  
I stared down at the pitch black stage as an evil looking actor Mordred walked out from the shadows with the light illuminating his face. His crown was too big and his beard appeared to be glued on, giving it a stiff appearance.  
"With the energy harnessed from that comet, no one will be able to stop the Fire Nation!" actor Mordred said as an orange lantern slowly was pulled across the stage above the throne.  
Actress Athera came into scene and kneeled before the throne prop. "Father, Ren and the Avatar are at the palace. They're trying to stop you."  
Actor Mordred pointed towards actress Athera before placing a hand on his chest melodramatically. "You take care of Ren. I shall face the Avatar myself."  
Actor Mordred raised his hands and he vanished with a puff of smoke. Actress Athera stood up and moved to the center of the stage as actor Ren entered from the left side of the stage while actress Odette was lowered to the stage on the right.  
"Odette, you fight the Fire Lord, I'll hold her off," actor Ren said. Actress Odette got pulled up by the rope with a farewell nod.  
Huh…that's what I would have done. Maybe they did have me pegged?  
Actress Athera clenched her hands. "You are no longer my brother. You are an enemy."  
Actor Ren: pointed to the actress. "No, I am the rightful heir to the throne!"  
Actress Athera smirked slyly. "We'll see."  
She whipped out her blue streamer and sent it towards actor Ren. Actor Ren took out his own red streamer and dodged the blue one. He jumped over actress Athera's head, taking her spot while actress Athera ran towards actor Ren's original spot. They threw their streamers towards each other. Actor Ren threw out his two red streamers. Actress Athera ducked and jumped over actor Ren, returning back to their original positions.  
Actress Athera whipped her streamers in arcs around her body and she stretched her palm out. Fake fire props made of paper popped up from the stage floor in front of her in increasing size towards actor Ren. A huge fire prop came up at actor Ren's side, hiding him from the audience but his silhouette could still be seen. Actor Ren raised his arms in pain.  
As his silhouette dropped to the floor, he let out a broken cry that rang throughout the theater. "Honor!"  
Actress Athera turned towards the audience and did a Fire Nation bow. The audience cheered and applauded.  
I was horrified and I turned to an equally stunned Ren. We were all shocked as we turned towards Ren quizzically.  
My horror and shock quickly turned to pure outrage and hate - something I had never felt before. No matter what, I wouldn't let anyone hurt him, especially his family. He would come out of this war in the end even if I didn't make it. I would make sure he was going to be the wonderful king I always knew he could be.

Odette:

Fake fire props came out from the sides of the stage to the center. Actress Odette walked on stage, looking around carefully. Actor Mordred was sitting in the dark behind her.  
The spotlight shined down on actor Mordred after a moment and actress Odette turned to him. "So, you have mastered all 4 elements?"  
Actress Odette pointed her staff towards actor Mordred and pointed her free hand down. "Yeah and now, you're going down."  
"No, it is you who are going down." Actor Mordred stood up. "You see, you are too late. The comet is already here and I'm unstoppable."  
Oh great, my worst fear was about to play out right before me. Frightened, I widened my eyes, wondering if Alana had possibly been right. Was this what the future held for me?  
Actor Mordred whipped his red streamers out and threw it towards actress Odette and she jumped away. The streamers hit the floor in a puff of smoke. A white-blue flag popped up from both ends of actress Odette's staff and she twirled the staff in arcs around her body. Actor Mordred was twirling the streamers around his body in arcs as well. He threw the streamers out but actress Odette flew over him, twirling her staff along the way.  
Actress Odette landed and she turned towards actor Mordred. Both actors twirled their prop weapons and walked towards each other. Actor Mordred threw his streamer out while actress Odette ducked and attempted to swipe her staff as actor Mordred's legs. She jumped away from him and landed in a stance. Actor Mordred began to shoot streamers from his sleeves. The rope pulled actress Odette up over actor Mordred as he continued to shoot more streamers but missed.  
Actress Odette landed on the other side of the stage and actor Mordred thrust his palms out. A large blast of fake fire carried across the stage rapidly from behind actor Mordred, wrapping around actress Odette like a sushi roll as she dropped her staff prop. A black clad stagehand could be seen running offstage from behind the fake fire.  
Actress Odette twirled and circled within the cloth, letting out a bloodcurdling cry that made me wince.  
"Nooo…"  
She fell as the rope detached from her back and fell to the ground gracefully and the cloth spread out around her. A smiling actor Mordred stood over her triumphantly as actress Athera walked onto stage.  
"It is over, Father." She raised her arms victoriously. "We've done it."  
Actor Mordred punched his hand into the air melodramatically as the stage got surrounded by flames. The platform he was standing on rose as a cloth of fake fire was raised behind him.  
"Yes, we have done it! The dreams of my Father, and my Father's Father have now been realized." He threw his arms up and the Fire Nation banner unfurled behind him. "The World is mine."  
The audience proceeded to give him a standing ovation as our gang all looked on speechlessly.

Ren:

We walked along the shore of the sea. I had an arm around Odette as she was lost deep in thought - I knew the last few scenes had bothered her more than she was letting on.  
"That... wasn't a good play," I commented as we continued to walk in a single file with Odette and I in the lead. All of us had unhappy looks on our faces.  
Odette nodded. "I'll say."  
"No kidding," Kole grunted.  
"Horrible," Tarren agreed.  
"You said it," Elise spat.  
Alana waved her arms out matter-of-factly. "But the effects were decent."


	18. Chapter 18: The Pheonix King

Ren:

Odette's boot shifted to the side into a stance. She was practicing in front of the beach house with the rest of the gang resting on steps in the background, looking fierce and beautiful as always.  
Odette proceeded to firebend arcs with her arms, right leg followed by her left leg. She walked towards the me as she did so. Then she firebended a flurry of small shots, circling rapidly with her arms. I was looking sternly at Odette's training with my arms crossed, paying careful attention to every move.  
"More ferocious!" I barked.  
Odette's fist firebended in front of me as she walked forward. She had an intense look of concentration on her face - more determined than ever to get the set right.  
I tried to help her along as much as I could. "Imagine striking through your opponent's heart."  
Odette firebended another big shot of fire and turned towards me with her arms in a frustrated gesture.  
"Ugh! I'm trying," she groaned, looking at me helplessly.  
I knew what she as doing…she was trying to flirt with me to get me to help her more. If it had been anything else and we weren't training right now, I would have given in in two seconds flat. But there was no room for mushy affection right now. The comet was coming, and I had to do everything I could to make sure she was ready for it. She wasn't too offended with this outlook…mostly because she knew I was right and I couldn't be there to hold her hand when she faced my father.  
"Now let me hear you roar like a tiger-dillo!" I ordered.  
Odette turned back instantly, stretched her arms and roared rather softly with weak streams of fire coming out from her palm and mouth. Odette grinned sheepishly at her weak attempt.  
She was playing it safe again…I couldn't have that.  
"That sounded pathetic!" I lashed out, hoping to get her to realize how serious I was. "I said roar!"  
Annoyed, she turned around, roared ferociously and firebended rather strongly out of both hands and her mouth. Fang was so startled by the sudden power he yelped and scurried towards me and seeked refuge behind my legs.  
That was more like it.  
I nodded my head in approval.  
Kole came out of the house just then, holding two watermelons with straws in them.  
"Who wants a nice, cool glass of watermelon juice?" he asked.  
Odette comically had an exclamation mark expression on her face and her eyes widened with greed as she spun around, her long hair flying out around her.  
"Ooo, ooo, me, me, me!" She began to run towards the house, practically drooling.  
"Hey," I snapped, trying to keep the amusement out of my voice as I held Odette back by her robes. "Your lesson's not over yet! Get back here."  
Odette tried to break free of my grip and her tongue comically stuck out to show that she was thirsty. I pulled her up effortlessly while she looked at me, rather disappointed.  
"Come on, Ren," Tarren said from where he and Alana were lounging on the steps. Alana drank her watermelon juice and looked on, knowing better than to tangle with me. "Just take a break. What's the big deal?"  
Apparently no one was on my side today. I looked down at Odette and she stared back at me with big, round, grey pleading eyes. I fought off a small smile and sighed in defeat.  
"Fine."  
I released Odette and she grinned widely, kissed me lightly on the lips, and dashed off, practically leaving a trail of dust behind. She ran towards Kole and accepted the watermelon with glee and proceeded to slurp the juice noisily and greedily.  
"If you want to lounge around like a bunch of snail-sloths all day, then go ahead!" I snapped in annoyance, turning and walking away.  
For someone who was so worried about making sure she won the war and saved millions of lives, she didn't seem too concerned about it now. What was the matter with her today?

* * * *

Odette:

I watched Ren walk off, a little guilty and worried - I didn't like him being mad at me.  
"Maybe Ren's right," Alana said suddenly after a moment. She laid her watermelon aside and stood up slowly. "Sitting around the house has made us pretty lazy. But I know just the thing to change that. Beach party!"  
She suddenly removed her outer coat, revealing a pair of brown under-shorts underneath and matching top before she dived excitedly away into the trees that led to the beach.  
We all followed her to the ocean immediately and caught up just in time to see her enter the water with a splash. Alana surfaced with seaweed on her head and she blew water from her mouth, grinning goofily.  
Kole jumped off the shore into the water as he waterbended a surfboard made of ice. He proceeded to surf as the water displaced by his movements splashed around him. Kole jumped off a wave of water and his image was briefly silhouetted against the Sun. He landed back into the water with ease and continued surfing.  
Tarren was laying on a beach mat in his red swimming bottoms, his well developed chest and stomach bare as he enjoyed the sun. He smiled, his green eyes amused, as Alana walked past him carrying seaweed in her arms. He looked puzzled as Alana grabbed empty pails and ran past before running back a spilt second later with the buckets full of water and a huge smile plastered on her face.  
I was holding a big piece of wood in my hand, busily working on my own project. For the finishing touch, I placed the piece of wood as a horn into my sand sculpture of Emrys.  
I raised both arms excitedly. "Check out my Emrys sand sculpture."  
Else walked over and nodded her head in approval.  
"Not bad, Twinkle Toes. But I've been working on my sandbending." She stretched and cracked her fingers loudly. "You're gonna love this."  
She moved her hands and sent clouds of sand dust everywhere. The dust cleared to reveal a miniature replica of Eralith in the sand. The huge Earth King's palace was in the middle with tiny houses surrounding it. Amazed, I walked towards it and kneeled down, scrutinizing the details.  
"Whoa." I looked at the sand replica of Earth King and his bear, Bosco. "Wow, you even made a little Earth King and Bosco."  
I smiled and turned my head to look at Alana who was frantically carving at her sculpture, sending specks of sand flying everywhere. Elise & I walked over behind her.  
Elise smirked widely and crossed her arms. "Try and top that, Alana."  
Alana gave her a dirty look. "Ta-da!"  
She revealed her sand sculpture with seaweed for hair, stones for eyes, a red starfish for a nose, and some stones and seashells as a smile.  
I frowned and cocked my head to the side curiously. "Is that a blubbering, blob monster?"  
"No," she snapped and stomped the ground defensively. "It's Tarren."  
With an animated look of shock and surprise on my face as both me and Elise burst into a fit of laughter. When I saw a dark look roll across her expression like thunderclouds, I tried to hold back more giggles and preoccupied myself by adjusting my red skirt right and my red bathing suit top  
"Tarren, we'll all understand if you break up with her over this," Elise said.  
"I think it's sweet," he said and Alana pranced over and slid on her knees, sliding gracefully to a stop next to him. He grabbed her by her shoulders and kissed her on the cheek.  
I frowned. "But it doesn't even look like…"  
A burst of fire hit the sand sculpture, sending waves of send everywhere. I yelled in surprise and shielded myself from the impact. The dust cleared and I looked up at the cliff to see Ren running and jumping off the cliff, firebending at me at the same time. I narrowly missed the flames and jumped across Elise's sand sculpture. As I flew across it, a ball of fire hit one of the sand houses, breaking it into a wave of sand instantly. I landed on the other side near my sand sculpture as I turned around, frightened.  
What was going on with him? Had he snapped or something!?  
Diving for cover, I jumped over my sand sculpture.  
Ren landed in front of Elise's sand structure. He ran on the sculpture towards me as I peeked out from behind Emrys's sand head.  
I met his eyes and relief washed through me. I could see that he was mad but he wasn't going to hurt me. He was being careful, guarded, like when he was teaching me something in one of our lessons.  
"What are you doing?!" I gasped, totally confused.  
"Teaching you a lesson!"  
He firebended towards the Emrys sculpture. I looked away and jumped away from the impact. The stream of fire "cut" the Emrys sculpture in half, destroying it into a pile of sand.  
I landed a distance away from him as Ren turned and firebended towards me but he missed as I jumped onto the cliff. Ren firebended towards the cliff repeatedly as I struggled to run across the uneven surface. Ren's last blast shattered the top part of the cliff into rubble. he ran towards the cliff and proceeded to scale it.  
"What happened?" I heard Kole yell as I ran.  
Alana's answering reply came out annoyed. "Ren's gone crazy! I made a sand sculpture of Tarren and he destroyed it! Oh, and he's attacking Odette."  
Tarren grabbed Alana and they ran back to help me although I really didn't need it.  
Ren was hot on my heels and I almost felt like we were playing a game of sorts.  
Ren firebended at me but I jumped out of the way in time. The fire cleared and Ren was still chasing after me angrily. I ran to the top of a huge rock and jumped off before Ren sent strong blasts of fire at the rock, disintegrating it into pieces. I grabbed onto the top of a trunk of a nearby tree as Ren jumped off the rock and somersaulted to the bottom.  
Ren landed on the sand with a roll and firebended at the top of the tree as I jumped away. The tree caught fire and I landed somewhere on the beach house's roof. Ren jumped onto the beach house's railings as he scaled and flipped his way to the roof. His head appeared and he pushed his self with his arm and landed in a stance.  
I was waiting for him in a similar stance.  
"Get a grip before I blast you off this roof!" I snapped, annoyed.  
Ren snorted, his eyes gleaming with mischief and equal annoyance. "Go ahead and do it!"  
He then firebended with his fists and feet one after another. I slid down the roof as jets of fire set the path I was on alight. I reached the end of the roof and I grabbed onto the edge as I swung myself into a nearby room through the window. I slid across the floor on my knees to hide behind a drawer. A huge blast of fire through the roof sent some debris into the room and Ren landed. He got into a stance and looked around the room warily. I then kicked the drawer towards Ren. He blocked it by disintegrating the drawer into pieces with a firebending punch.  
I ran out from the room followed shortly by Ren. Ren firebended huge whips and arcs of flame around himself and sent the tunnel of fire towards me. I ran away desperately and time seemed to slow down as I looked back to find myself being slowly engulfed by the fire. I airbended the fire away, creating a safe space for me to land on without get burnt. I glared at him, the fire reflecting in his eyes as he breathed hard, annoyed and angry with me for some odd reason. I could see that he still cared for me though…he was still good.  
"Enough!" I snarled furiously.  
I airbended a huge tunnel of air towards Ren, extinguishing the flames at the same time. Ren yelled in surprise as he got pushed back by the strong air pressure. The side of the house got ripped open by the visible tunnel of wind, throwing out some wooden debris along with Ren. He hit a tree with a loud smack and then slid down some branches.  
As Ren landed on the grass, I winced and felt a pang of guilt as I ran towards him, worried. He attempted to stand up, grabbing his head and moaning slightly as the others rushed in.  
"What's wrong with you?!" Kole screeched venomously as I jumped off the balcony and landed near Ren warningly. "You could have hurt Odette."  
"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with all of you!" Ren snapped back as he stood up and threw his arm to the side in anger. "How can you sit around having beach parties when Ezra's Comet faces is only three days away!"  
I, along with everyone else, looked at him with guilty expressions. I knew I should have told him! But nooo…Kole had been against that plan.  
"Why are you all looking at me like I'm crazy?" Ren asked, lost.  
"About Ezra's Comet…" I took a deep breath and took a step forward. "I was actually going to wait to fight the Fire Lord until after it came."  
Ren gaped at me, shocked. "After?"  
"I'm not ready," I admitted, unconfident and unsure. "I need more time to master firebending."  
"And frankly, your earthbending could still use some work too," Elise said and I looked at her, surprised and disappointed.  
Ren narrowed his eyes and watched me in particular, hurt flickering in his eyes. "So... You all knew Odette was going to wait?"  
"Honestly, if Odette tries to fight the Fire Lord right now, she's gonna lose. No offence," Alana said and I winced.  
"The whole point of fighting the Fire Lord before the comet was to stop the Fire Nation from winning the war. But they pretty much won the war when they took Eralith. Things can't get any worse," Kole said and dropped his head in worry.  
Ren shook his head and fixed me with a serious, worried gaze. "You're wrong. It's about to get worse than you can even imagine."

Ren:

As I told them about what was coming, I remembered that day when everything began to fall apart.  
"The day before the eclipse, my Father asked me to attend an important war meeting," I told them…  
…In my mind I remembered my servants help me wear and tighten my armor shoulder pads as I walked towards the throne room, bowing in respect…  
…"It was what I dreamed about for so many years. My Father had finally accepted me back…"  
…I thrust the curtain to the room apart, revealing my presence and walked forward. There was a map of the Earth Kingdom spread out on a table with generals seated around the length of the table.  
"Welcome, Prince Ren. We waited for you," Fire Lord Mordred said from where he sat on his throne.  
The generals glanced at me, their eyes guarded. Athera was already seated on Mordred's left. Mordred gestured to me to take my seat and I bowed before sitting down.  
Fire Lord Mordred turned to the council once I was seated. "General Basil, your report."  
Basil bowed his head in acknowledgement and stood. As he spoke, Basil slowly paced his way to the end of the table. "Thank you, sir. Eralith is still under our control. However, earthbender rebellions have prevented us from achieving total victory in the Earth Kingdom."  
Fire Lord Mordred frowned at the news. "What is your recommendation?"  
"Our army is spread too thin but once the eclipse is over and the invasion defeated, we should transfer more domestic forces into the Earth Kingdom."  
As they conversed, I slouched, uninterested.  
"Hmm…" Mordred suddenly turned his head to me and I looked up in surprise. "Prince Ren, you've been among the Earth Kingdom commoners. Do you think that adding more troops will stop these rebellions?"  
Still stunned he had actually spoken to me, I dropped my head and thought. "The people of the Earth Kingdom are proud and strong. They can endure anything as long as they have hope."  
"Yes, you're right." I glanced at his face as he gave an evil, lethal look. "We need to destroy their hope."  
"Well, that's not exactly what I…"  
Athera interrupted me, fingering her fringe and tossing it aside without care. "I think you should take their precious hope and the rest of their land, and burn it all to the ground."  
She looked at the table fiercely. The princess crossed her arms and smiled at her own brilliant suggestion.  
"Yes…" Mordred smiled evilly and walked towards the table, stopping near the edge. His shadow covered the East side of the continent like a dark omen. "Yes, you're right, Athera. Ezra's Comet is almost upon us and on that day it will endow us with the strength and power of a hundred Suns. No bender will stand a chance against us."  
General Basil looked on. "What are you suggesting, sir?"  
"When the comet last came, my grandfather, Fire Lord Ezra, used it to wipe out the Air Nomads. Now, I will use its power to end the Earth Kingdom," Mordred said and I felt myself going numb with shock and horror at my father's cruel revelation. "Permanently. From our airships, we will rain fire over their lands. A fire that will destroy everything. And out of the ashes, a new World will be born. A World in which all the lands are Fire Nation and I am the supreme ruler of everything!"  
The generals burst into applause.  
I looked down…  
…Back in the present, the gang stared at me, rigid with shock as I finished telling them the horrible plot.  
"I wanted to speak out against this horrifying plan. But I'm ashamed to say I didn't. My whole life I struggled to gain my Father's love and acceptance. But once I had it, I realized I'd lost myself getting there. I'd forgotten who I was."  
Kole raised a hand to his head in despair and dropped down to the ground on his knees. Tarren grabbed Alana by the shoulder in an assuring gesture.  
"I can't believe this," Kole said and shook his head.  
"I always knew that the Fire Lord was a bad guy but his plan is just pure evil," Alana said as Tarren shook his head.  
I wasn't concerned about them right now. There was someone else more important.  
Odette looked at me, her grey eyes wide in fright. "What am I going to do?"  
"I know you're scared," I said. I was too. I stood up and walked towards Odette, brushing my fingers across her soft cheekbones. "And I know that you're not ready to save the World. But if you don't defeat the Fire Lord before the comet comes, there won't be a World to save anymore."  
Odette stared back at me and threw herself into my arms, pressing herself against my chest as she shuddered in terror.  
"I'm okay, I'm okay…" she whispered, breathing hard as she tried to calm herself. I hugged her back tightly and ran my free hand through her long, silky hair.  
"I know you're not."

Odette:

I jabbed a finger at myself, shocked and furious and ashamed all at once. "Why didn't you tell me about your Dad's crazy plan sooner?"  
Ren took a step forward, offended. "I didn't think I had to. I assumed that you were still going to fight him before the comet. No one told me you decided to wait!"  
I winced, guilty. He was right, as usual.  
"This is bad." I gasped for air as panic overwhelmed me, placing both hands on head in despair as I dropped to my knees. "This is really, really bad."  
"Odette, you don't have to do this alone," Kole said as Ren wrapped a secure, warm arm around me.  
"Yeah," Elise said as Tarren and Alana walked over. "If we all fight the Fire Lord together, we got a shot at taking him down."  
"Alright!" Alana cheered and raised her arm in enthusiasm. "Team Avatar is back!"  
"Air," she pointed to me.  
"Water," she pointed to Kole.  
"Earth," she turned to Elise.  
"Fire," she nodded to Ren.  
"Fan and sword!" She picked up a palm leaf in a shape of a fan from the ground into Tarren's hands. She thrust a blade of leaf into the air. After a moment, the tip of the leaf fell.  
"Fighting the Fire Lord is going to be the hardest thing we've ever done together. But I wouldn't want to do it any other way," I said after a moment. Our group laughed and we engaged in a group hug but Ren remained standing where he was.  
Elise smiled. "Yeah."  
Alana was giddy. "Alright."  
Kole looked up and frowned. "Get over here, Ren. Being part of our group also means being part of group hugs."  
Ren looked to the side with a "Do I have to this " look on his face and fit into the opening Tarren & Elise created. Emrys growled and we looked up and got tackled to the ground by the giant sky dragon. Fang chattered away on Emrys's head.

Ren:

We stood in the courtyard in the beach house.  
I was standing in front of Odette while Kole and Fang sat at the side, spectating.  
"There's one technique you need to know before facing my Father. How to redirect lightning." Odette grinned with anticipation and I held back a smile of amusement. "If you let the energy in your own body flow, the lightning will follow it. You turn your opponent's energy against them."  
I stretched my left arm out and the fingers on my right hand touch the fingers on my left hand and swiftly traced a path down my arm, shoulder, stomach and back out the other side. My left hand touched my right, they were parallel to each other.  
I felt a small twinge of sadness as I remembered when I had first learned this lesson with my Uncle. That seemed like a lifetime ago…but if all that other stuff hadn't happened, I wouldn't be where I was right now.  
I repeated the motion to the left side of my body.  
"That's like waterbending," Odette exclaimed, surprised. She began to mimic my movements.  
"Exactly. My Uncle invented this technique himself by studying waterbenders," I said.  
Odette looked at me curiously. "So... Have you ever redirected lightning before?"  
"Once. Against my Father."  
"What did it feel like?" she asked.  
I stopped whatever I was doing and did a cool down motion with my hands.  
"Exhilarating," I said, flashing back to when Mordred threw lightning at me and I re-directed it back. "But terrifying. You feel so powerful holding that much energy in your body. But you know that you make the wrong move, it's over."  
"Heh." Odette laughed nervously. "Well, not over over, right I mean there's always Kole and a little spirit water action... Am I right?"  
She turned to Kole hopefully.  
Kole looked back matter-of-factly. "Actually I used it all up after Athera shot you."  
Odette sagged, disappointed. "Oh."  
I stared at Odette seriously, willing her to understand how important this was. "You'll have to take the Fire Lord's life. Before he takes yours."  
"Yeah... I'll just do that," she said, shuffling her feet.  
I walked away. No matter what happened to me or to anybody else, it was my job to make sure she was safe and knew everything she could learn. I would protect her as much as I could, but there was only so much I could do. I was going to do whatever it took to ensure that my love would be okay.  
All I knew now was that if she didn't survive this war…then neither would I.

Odette:

I stood in an area full of rocks at dusk.  
"Gather round Team Avatar," Alana said. She was holding a watermelon with some face carvings resembling a jack-o-lantern and dropped onto a wooden structure with a red cloth draped over it. She stood in front of the Melon Lord and the rest of our group walked towards her and proceeded to sit in a circle.  
"In order to take out the Fire Lord, or in this case, the "Melon Lord", our timing has to be perfect," she said and kneeled down. "First, Tarren and I will draw his fire."  
She took a stick and drew a line curving to the left towards the melon symbol on the ground. She then drew a straight line in the middle.  
"Then, Kole and Ren charge in with some liquidy hot offence and while the "Melon Lord" is distracted, Odette swoops in and 'BAM!'" She drew a line curving to the right which ran through the melon symbol. "She delivers the final blow."  
I stared at the drawing with slight disgust, not too keen on the idea of hurting someone, even if it was Fire Lord Psycho Path.  
"Err…" Elise said and we looked to her. "What about me?"  
Alana shrugged. "For now, you're the Melon Lord's forces."  
"So I get to chuck flaming rocks at all of you?"  
"Whatever makes the training feel more realistic."  
"Sweetness," Elise smiled.  
We got into out positions and I stared at the Melon Lord. He had two sticks as arms opened up in a V-shape. Elise appeared in front of the scarecrow with the same pose.  
"Muahahahahahaha!"  
She was surrounded by a ring of huge boulders covered with seaweed-like things. A ring of fire in bowls sat outside the boulders.  
Ren and Kole were hiding behind some rocks, looking at Elise. Ren turned his head and looked at me, his eyes shining with worry and love and encouragement. I appeared out from behind another hiding spot with Fang in tow and looked to the side. Tarren and Alana peered out of their own hiding places. Alana was wearing her Water Tribe wolf armor. I took an unsteady breath and turned back to the area where Elise was as Alana signaled with her arm to go.  
Alana, Tarren, Ren and Kole all made their way towards Elise except for me as I stayed put.  
Alana and Tarren ran before the ground shook and popped up an army of Fire Nation soldiers made of rock charging at them. Alana cut the rock in half and Tarren jumped and spun and delivered a kick to another rock soldier, knocking it down. They continued to run before a flaming boulder dropped into their path. Tarren cart wheeled over it while Alana laid on the ground with her face mere inches away from being crushed.  
Alana shook her fist furiously. "Watch it, Elise!"  
Elise was clearly enjoying herself. "I am not Elise, I am "Melon Lord"! Muahahahahaha!"  
She earthbended a rock over the bowl of fire and it got ignited immediately and she sent it towards Ren and Kole who dodged it. Ren and Kole ran as a ring of rock soldiers surrounded them, fighting back to back with fire and waterbending to destroy the rocks.  
Alana ran with her sword as flaming rocks were being sent over her head continuously. "Now, Odette!"  
No yet!  
My heart hammering and terrified, I propelled myself from the rock with my arms holding my staff in a ready to strike position. I glared at the Melon Lord scarecrow as I descended, picturing the real Fire Lord…how his eyes would widen in terror as his life flashed before his eyes, and I would see my own face - twisted and enraged - reflected in them.  
I would become no better than he…an animal. A murderer.  
I landed and brought my staff over my head but didn't deliver the final blow. The staff paused inches away from the watermelon head.  
I couldn't do it.  
I looked at the scarecrow before slouching and pulling my staff back.  
The group continued hiding behind a rock behind me.  
"What are you waiting for? Take him out!" Ren called, surprised and annoyed. I knew he had only been so short with me lately because he was worried. I didn't blame him…I was worried too.  
I looked on, unwilling to perform the action.  
After a moment I sighed and shook my head. "I can't."  
Alana trudged up the slope leading to the scarecrow and walked up in front of me.  
"What's wrong with you?" she screeched and pointed accusingly at me. "If this was the real deal, you'd be shot full of lightning right now."  
She made a beheading gesture against her neck and I winced slightly.  
"I'm sorry, but it just didn't feel right. I didn't feel like myself," I explained lamely.  
Alana who unsheathes his sword. I looked away as a slashing and squishing sound implied that Alana cut the watermelon head off. I closed my eyes and grimaced at the act, imagining it if it were real. What kind of pain would that person feel?  
"There," Alana hissed and I opened my eyes in shock. "That's how it's done."  
A piece of the watermelon fell off and hit the ground, red juice leaking out of the gaping slice. Fang ran forward and began to lick the insides.  
I looked on in disbelief and tried not to lose my stomach.

Ren:

This was going to be harder than I'd thought.  
Odette had been raised differently than the rest of us, I knew that. Different people, different time period. Her compassion had always been her Achilles Heel…she would never be able to kill my father or anyone else for that matter. But he would kill her, without a doubt. All he needed was an opening. I had to protect her and do everything I could to help but at this point I had no idea how. I was beyond frustrated and worried all at the same time.  
It was night time and we were all back at the courtyard. A plate of untouched food sat on Odette's lap as she looked down sadly while the rest of our group were heartily tucking in to their dinners. I watched her worriedly as she leaned against me, wishing there was something I could do. Kole walked in with a long scroll in his hands.  
"I have a surprise for everyone!" he announced.  
Elise held her chopsticks in her bowl of rice and smirked, grinning from ear to ear. "I knew it! You did have a secret thing with Kenna!"  
She smiled while Kole gave her an expressionless look. Alana, Tarren and I were also equally expressionless.  
"Er, no," Kole said and all the others suddenly started to shove rice into their mouths. "I was looking for cooking pots in the attic and I found this."  
He threw scroll downwards as it unrolled by itself and revealed a baby smiling happily with his arms in the air, enjoying himself at the beach.  
"Look at baby Ren! Isn't he cute?" Kole cooed as everyone gushed and laughed, even Odette managed a small chuckled and pressed herself deeper into my side.  
I looked at the baby and closed my eyes, hating that they could possibly think that monster was me.  
"Oh lighten up, I was just teasing," Kole snapped, annoyed by my reaction.  
I opened my eyes and met his blue ones darkly. "That's not me. It's my Father."  
As soon as he heard that Kole rapidly rolled the scroll up with a look of shock on his face.  
Tarren pointed at the scroll and looked at me. "But he looked so sweet and innocent."  
"Well that sweet little kid grew up to be a monster. And the worst Father in the history of Fathers," I growled.  
"But he is still a human being," Odette suddenly said and everyone looked at her, surprised.  
I was shocked. "You're going to defend him?"  
She gave me a look and stood up, facing everyone. "No, I agree with you. Fire Lord Mordred is a horrible person and the world will probably be better off without him. There's gotta be another way."  
I frowned, understanding where she was going with this. "Like what?"  
Odette shrugged and raised both arms as if she were holding a bowl. "I don't know. Maybe we can make some big pots of glue and then I can use gluebending to stick his arms and legs together so he can't bend anymore."  
Had she hit her head on one of those rocks Elise had been chucking around earlier?  
"Yeah. Then you can show him his baby pictures and all those happy memories will make him good again," I said sarcastically and everyone started to laugh and snicker.  
Odette looked to me naively, her eyes sparkling. "Do you really think that would work?"  
I glared at her seriously and sternly, fed up with do No!  
Odette dropped her head and sighed. She started pacing up and down, looking at her hands as if they were something horrifying. "This goes against everything I learned from the monks. I can't just go around wiping out people I don't like…"  
Alana piped up, grinning. "Sure, you can. You're the Avatar. If it's in the name of keeping balance, I'm pretty sure the Universe will forgive you."  
Odette balled up her fist as she struggled to contain her temper  
She rapidly turned around and burst out furiously. "This isn't a joke, Alana! None of you understands the position I'm in!"  
I understood…  
"Odette, we do understand. It's just…"  
Odette: rudely interrupted. "Just what, Kole?! What?"  
Kole was visibly annoyed with her by now. "We're trying to help."  
She jabbed a finger at him, seething.  
"Then when you figure out a way for me to beat the Fire Lord without taking his life, I love to hear it!" she yelled and raised her arms in exasperation and walked away.  
"Odette, don't walk away from this," Kole snapped. He began to walk towards her and I jumped up and touched his shoulder to stop him from doing so.  
"Let her go. She needs time to sort it out by herself," I said, looking after her retreating figure with concern.

Odette:

The trees surrounding the house and the balcony I was sitting on swayed gently in the breeze. There was a table of fire in front of me, crackling softly. Behind me, four candles and some offerings consisting of bread, water and fruit were on a tray. I sat in the lotus position, trying to calm my shaken nerves. Fang trotted over and tries to get my attention by resting his head on my lap.  
"Hey, Fang," I sighed and patted his head. "I don't suppose you know what I should do."  
Fang made a sound and I smiled slightly.  
"I didn't think so."  
Fang whined and laid down on his side while I returned back to meditating.  
A few moments later I was fast asleep, lying on my side near Fang. The candled were already extinguished. Cut to the ocean in front of the house and camera zooms out in a rapid motion. I suddenly opened my eyes and sat up, startled as I felt a presence near.  
In front of the house, on the horizon, an island was floating somewhere in the waves, and island that had not been there before.  
Chanting started to sound, very faint and distant. I felt a pull towards the island, similar to what I had felt when I had been in the swamp. It was calling me to it, urging my feet forward.  
I stood up, walked over the tray and climbed over the balcony railing, moving in a sleepwalking state. Fang was awakened and looked at me as I jumped to the railing. He whined and jumped after me, landing in my arms so he didn't hurt his self from the fall..  
I set him down and walked briskly on the path to the ocean as Fang circled around me, whimpering every now and then. Fang and I reached the edge of the shore. I continued walking into the cool, salty water without pausing and started to swim when my feet could no longer touch the bottom. Fang was still on the beach, watching his master swim out to sea, towards the forested area. Fang barked and cried for a few more moments before he ran and took a flying leap into the water, paddling badly after me. The chanting that was emanating from the island suddenly ended.

Ren:

The next morning, I came into the courtyard where everyone was gathered around Emrys.  
Alana was busy running around and making sure everything was ready to go. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and tossed my bag up into Emrys saddle. I rubbed the back of my head and looked around feeling like something was off and terribly wrong.  
"Okay, that's everything," Alana suddenly said.  
"No, it's not," Elise suddenly piped up and everyone turned to face her from where she was sitting on the stone steps. "Where's Odette?"  
Odette!  
We all exchanged surprised glances and ran off to look for her while Emrys continued to eat fish nonchalantly.  
I couldn't believe I had been so stupid, not noticing she was gone! What was the matter with me? I began to panic as I raced ahead of the others, practically flying up the steps and into the house. What if someone had come and stolen her in the night? Like Athera…it would be just like her to take her and use my feelings for her against me.  
Everyone ran up the steps behind me to the corridor and looked around.  
"Odette? Odette!" I called, my heart hammering in my chest as I slammed the door to her room open. It was empty I realized with horror, my blood going cold.  
"Come on lazy bones, let's go," I heard Elise calling.  
Tarren, Alana and Kole headed to the right of the corridor while Elise and I headed in the opposite direction. I darted to the inside of a dark room, throwing the door open again in my haste. I walked back out of the room immediately and ran past Elise, dread filling me and making me go numb with worry. I returned to her room and went out to the railing of the balcony. Odette's staff was lying on it.  
Alana walked onto the balcony beside me, scratching her head.  
Alana's gloved hand grabbed the staff, her eyes wide with surprise. "She left her staff. That's so strange."  
"Odette's not in the house. Let's check the beach," I said, trying to keep a calm attitude even though my mind was in complete and total chaos. Without wasting moment, I headed to the broken docking area on the edge of the sea. We walked out onto the soft, sandy beach and what we found surprised all of us.  
"Look! There's her footprints," Alana gasped and stared at the path of footprints leading to the sea, confused. "The trail ends here."  
Tarren frowned. "So... She went for a midnight swim and never came back?"  
Kole's eyes widened, worried. "Maybe she was captured."  
I stiffened and looked at him, horrified at the very idea and ready to teat apart whoever had taken her.  
Alana saw my expression and kept her cool, trying to calm me down. "I don't think so. There's no sign of a struggle."  
I relaxed slightly and looked around, trying to figure out where she had gone.  
Elise bent down. "I bet she ran away again."  
Again? Was this a common thing with Odette? Great…something else for me to worry about.  
Alana shook her head. "Ah-uh. She left behind her glider and Emrys."  
Elise glared at her. "Then what do you think happened to her oh sleuthy one?"  
"It's pretty obvious," Alana shot back and stood up and threw her hands to the side. "Odette mysteriously disappears before an important battle? She's definitely on a Spirit World journey."  
Her finger pointed up in an "I got it!" position and I looked at her, surprised. That actually made a lot of sense. But then, every the worrier, my doubt crept in a ruined whatever progress I had made toward calming down.  
"But if she was, wouldn't her body still be here?" I asked, annoyed that she hadn't thought of this and gotten my hopes up.  
Alana frowned and slumped. "Oh yeah, forgot about that."  
Kole shook his head at me. "Then she's gotta be somewhere on Ember Island. Let's split up and look for her."  
Elise suddenly grabbed my arm swiftly and I blushed, surprised by the suddenly contact. "I'm going with Ren!"  
The rest of us looked at her curiously.  
"What? Everyone else went on a life changing fieldtrip with Ren. Now it's my turn," she shrugged and hugged me tighter and I was still blushing.  
Awkward…  
As we split up, Emrys flew out from behind a cliff, Alana on her head, looking around with a serious look on her face.  
Please, I silently begged. Let her be safe…

Kole:

Tarren and I started out search in the bustling town area of Ember Island. When we got there, we discovered that there was a crowd surrounding someone in an air nomad outfit and they cheered for "Odette" repeatedly.  
Tarren and I froze and looked at each other, shocked to hear her name. Relieved and desperate to find out what had happened to her, we quickly ran to the crowd and broke a section apart.  
The tattooed, dark haired head turned around to reveal a very familiar actress.  
"Avatar State, yip yip!" she chirped as actor Elise lifted her up in the air as she posed in a flying position as the crowd cheered wildly.  
Tarren and I both wore exaggerated looks of anger and "WHAT?!" on our faces.

Ren:

Elise and I were walking past some beach houses an hour later after we had all split up. There had still been no sign of Odette and I was beginning to lose hope and just started to worry like crazy again. The entire time we walked, Elise continued to babble about her life, talking to me like I was a therapist or something and not the least bit concerned about Odette and her safety. After a while, it got to the point where I was ready to rip my hair out.  
"…And then when I was nine, I ran away again -" she was saying.  
I nodded tiredly. "Uh-huh."  
"I know I shouldn't complain," she said and closed her eyes and opened her hands to the side. Distressed, I looked away.  
"My parents gave me everything that I ever asked for. But they never gave me the one thing that I really wanted. Their love. You know what I mean?" she finished.  
I dropped my head and sighed audibly.  
I turned around and looked at her, not trying to be rude but too worried about Odette to really care. "Look, I know you had a rough childhood but we should really focus on finding Odette."  
I patted her shoulder light and walked on.  
Elise looked at me, disappointed. "This is the worst fieldtrip ever."  
She blew her fringe in irritation and followed.  
We walked around for another hour before returning to the beach house with no luck. We were the first there and waited for a little while before Kole and Tarren joined us. We all sat on the steps despondently, not looking or speaking to one another.  
I held my head, trying to force my racing, panicked thoughts away. By this point I was simply numb and I had no idea what to do anymore. I had gotten so used to being with her everyday…being without her now felt strange, like I'd lost a limb.  
Emrys suddenly landed on the ground a ways away from the steps and growled.  
"Judging by the looked on your faces, I'm guessing you guys didn't find Odette either," Alana said as she jumped and landed in front of us.  
I groaned and lifted my head, feeling drained. "No. It's like she just... Disappeared."  
Elise suddenly sat up. "Hey, wait a minute, has anyone noticed that Fang's missing too?"  
Alana turned around in horror and kneeled down, behaving hysterically.  
"Oh no! I knew it was only a matter of time. Emrys ate Fang!" Alana jumped up and lifted Emrys's jaws to peer into her mouth. Fang, I'm coming for ya, buddy!"  
Alana climbed onto Emrys's tongue and tried to crawl her way in.  
I glanced at Kole who was staring calmly at his sister. "Alana, Emrys didn't eat Fang. He's probably with Odette."  
Still inside Emrys's mouth, she turned around and looked at her brother. "That's just what Emrys wants you to think."  
She climbed further in and Emrys closed her mouth around Alana's legs as they flailed around.  
"Get out of the dragon's mouth, Alana," I hissed, not very pleased with her childish behavior. "We have a real problem here. Odette is nowhere to be found and the comet is only two days away."  
Kole and everyone else looked up at me curiously.  
"What should we do Ren?" Kole asked, completely trusting while, in the background, Alana slid out of Emrys's mouth in star formation and her entire body was covered in Emrys's saliva.  
I ignored her and stood up, shocked by the question. "I don't know. Why are you all looking at me?"  
Kole shrugged. "Well, you are kind of the expert on tracking Odette."  
I winced. Ouch. That wasn't something I was exactly proud of  
Alana stood up and tried to rub off the spit. She took a step and slipped as she hit the ground with a very loud groan.  
"Yeah, if anyone's got experience hunting the Avatar, it's you," Elise said as I looked down, considering.  
She was right. For so long I had spent my time tracking her…even now I was already coming up with all sorts of ideas to find her, it was sort of second nature to me. There was one idea in particular that stuck out.  
It was near dusk when we flew swiftly away from Ember Island and towards some dark clouds.  
I was on Emrys's head while the rest watched me curiously from the saddle.  
"Ren, I don't want to tell you how to do your job but why are we heading towards the Earth Kingdom?" Alana asked. "There's no way Odette's there."  
I frowned. I really didn't want people to keep referring to this as my "job".  
I looked back at her and tried not to show how much she was annoying me. "Just trust me."  
Emrys picked up the pace and soared into the horizon and growled.

Athera:

I made my way through the royal plaza in the Fire Nation, irritated as usual with my pathetic servants. There was a ship docked near the port and some contingents could be seen on both sides of the red carpet. Ahead of me group of Fire Nation citizens bowed down to my father's palanquin as he passed by.  
My palanquin was a fair distance behind. I sat crossed legged and looked around, rather impatient as my eyes darted to the side. When the lazy servants didn't pick up their pace, I threw the veil open furiously.  
"Come on slowpokes, faster!" I hissed.  
The palanquin bearers picked up the pace but they were visibly struggling with the weight. I was still not very pleased with their speed.  
I looked up at Father's palanquin as a servant held the veil aside. Father's red and gold boot stepped out, revealing him crownless as he walked past a line of elite firebenders.  
Father walked up the steps, leaving the plaza behind him as I came flying out of the palanquin. I ran over behind him and kneeled down respectfully.  
I shot a menacing glance sideways at my servants, wishing they would burst into flames.  
"Sorry I'm late, Father. Good palanquin bearers are so hard to come by these days. So, is everything ready for our departure?" I turned my head to the side leisurely.  
"There has been a change of plans, Athera."  
I turned my head back and my eyes widened in shock. Had something gone awry? "What?"  
"I've decided to lead the fleet of airships to Eralith alone," Father explained casually as I looked at his back, still shell shocked. "You will remain here in the Fire Nation."  
No!  
I whined and began to behave like a spoilt child, something I knew worked well on him. "But I thought we were going to do this together."  
"My decision is final," he growled.  
"You…" I stood up and talked back to my Father, furious. My face scrunched up into anger and annoyance. "You can't treat me like this. You can't treat me like Ren!"  
I threw my head forward to make my point, spitting out my brother's word with venom.  
"Athera, silence yourself," he snapped, frowning slightly.  
I whined even more and clenched my fist towards myself.  
"But it was my idea to burn everything to the ground! I deserve to be by your side!"  
Father turned his head back fiercely and raised his voice sharply.  
"Athera!"  
Surprised, I stilled my temper, closed my eyes and lowered my head in obedience, seething inside. Just you wait…after I take care of Ren, I'll waste no time in finishing you off. I just need you to take care of the rest first.  
"Listen to me," Father said.  
I realized during my rant we had moved forward and we were now standing on a giant red and gold phoenix motif on the ground surrounded by a handful of fire sages and some elite firebenders. There was a set of armor on a small platform in front of us.  
"I need you here to watch over the homeland, it's a very important job that I can only entrust to you," Father said and I opened my eyes.  
I looked up in disbelief. "Really?"  
"And for your loyalty," he continued and turned to face me. "I've decided to declare you the new Fire Lord."  
"Fire Lord Athera?" I murmured in disbelief. Suddenly happy I turned my head to the side. "It does seem appropriate. But, what about you?"  
I turned back to look at him although I could care less about what happened to him. Frankly I just hoped he didn't come back at all.  
As he spoke, the fire sages put on golden phoenix shoulder pad armor on him and then a phoenix helmet was placed on his head.  
"Fire Lord Mordred is no more. Just as the World will be reborn in fire, I shall be reborn as the supreme ruler of the World. From this moment on, I will be known as…" He raised his arms proudly. "The 'Phoenix King'!"  
A large, maroon phoenix motif banner was raised behind him. I glanced at the line of firebenders holding the normal, red Fire Lord banners as another group of firebenders in front of them brought up the new, maroon Phoenix King banners. The other side did the same. Two firebenders poised beside a giant urn at the bottom of a pillar firebended into two openings at the side of the urn. I stared at the pillar in awe as fire lit up at the top and the citizens as bowed down. The pillars on each side of the banner lit up to resemble a pair of phoenix wings. Father, in his full phoenix armor, stood look out proudly in front of the banner and the fire pillars.

Ren:

It wasn't long before we finally reached an all too familiar three storey building in the middle of a forested area. A group of people could be seen walking towards the door. I led our edgy group towards the noisy building as dancing music played boisterously from within. When we walked in, some patrons were gasping in shock and staring at something, exactly like the last time I had been here.  
Kole was observing warily behind me, obviously not making the connection between coming here and finding Odette. "And the reason you brought us to a seedy Earth Kingdom tavern is what now?"  
"Sage." I raised my arm and pointed.  
Sage was sitting dismissively and sipping her tea as a huge burly man lunged as her. She stopped him with her leg and pushed him down effortlessly as the man groaned. The crowd gasped and were stunned while Sage smiled at her easy success.  
"Oh yeah," Alana gasped, catching on. "That weird bounty hunter with the giant mole."  
Tarren frowned. "Mole? Her skin is flawless."  
I watched as Sage quickly got off her seat as another opponent crashed into her bench, breaking it into pieces. The previous opponent quickly scrambled away as the man took another shot. This was it…if anyone could find Odette in a matter of hours it was Sage.  
"No," Alana continued as she watched Sage deftly dodge and spin away with her tea cup still in hand. Her opponent continued to fight. "She has this giant mole creature she rides around on."  
"Her shirshu," I corrected as groans could be heard from the fight. "It's the only animal that can track Odette's scent anywhere in the world. It's the one shot we have of finding her."  
I continued watching the fight as her opponent tried to throw a punch at Sage. It narrowly missed her tea cup as she threw it up into the air. As the tea cup rotated slowly through the air, an angry and annoyed Sage threw her opponent over her shoulder when he lunged at her. She turned to a table at a corner of the tavern as the patrons widened their eyes and scrambled away. The man landed on the table a second later, knocking off all the dishes on the table. Sage grabbed her falling tea cup without spilling any of its contents and the music ended. She turned away and drank her tea.  
Elise crossed her arms and smiled widely. "I don't know who this Sage lady is but I like her."

Odette:

I awoke in a forested area.  
Fang was licking my face until I stirred and began to wake up.  
I groaned from sleepiness.  
"Hey Fang," I said and sat up and rubbed my head. Fang was circling me protectively as he looked around, almost as if he were bracing his self for an attack. "I just had the strangest dream."  
I opened my eyes with a surprised look and surveyed my surroundings. I turned my head towards the ocean, startled.  
"Wait…"  
A mysterious, eerie, chanting music started to sound. I quickly realized that Fang and I were on a vast ocean with the forested area appearing to be in the middle of no where.  
"Where are we?" I murmured, fear rippling down my spine.  
The music sped up a little and ended abruptly.


	19. Chapter 19: The Old Masters

Ren:

I stared at Sage, my mind racing as she kicked an empty seat into a comfortable position before sitting down and taking a sip from her cup.  
Alana suddenly stiffened and whipped on me. "Hey, I remember her. She helped you attack us!"  
"Yup, back in the good old days," I teased dryly before walking towards Sage's table, the group following closely at my heels.  
I noticed with amusement that they were uncomfortable with their surroundings. Fighting the entire Fire Nation army didn't scare them but a sleazy bar tavern was apparently a different story.  
"Oh great," the dark woman said when she spotted me, refilling her cup. "It's Prince Pouty. Where's your creepy grandpa?"  
I snorted at her tone. "He's my Uncle, and he's not here."  
Sage looked up at me, smirking. "What happened this time? Your girlfriend bail out on you again?"  
I blushed with a sweat drop expressions on my face and glowered angrily.  
"She didn't bail!"  
"Okay, okay," she sighed and put a hand out. "Sheesh. I was only teasing. So what you want?"  
"I need your help finding the Avatar," I explained.  
"Hmph. Doesn't sound too fun." She took another drink from her cup while I got riled up. I was more edgy and irritated with usual…all I wanted was Odette back and Sage was just going to be difficult the entire time I was here and I really wasn't in the mood for any of her games.  
I stepped closer to Sage in a slight outburst, slamming my fist on the table and making everything fall over and clatter on the floor. The bar fell silent and the music stopped playing as all the patrons turned and looked at me with shocked and amazed expressions.  
"Does the end of the world sound like more fun?" I snarled furiously, getting in her face.  
Sage paused and stared at me darkly.

* * * *

Kole:

Outside the tavern, Emrys and Sage's shirshu were growling aggressively at each other. Emrys then licked the shirshu's face and both of them quieted down. The shirshu turned as Sage and our group walked towards them.  
Sage lifted up a piece of meat and cajoled before throwing the meat. "Nyla…"  
Nyla caught the meat in a gulp. Sage came over and affectionately stroked her shirshu.  
"Who's my little snuffly wuffly." Nyla suddenly shot out her tongue and Sage stepped back. "Whoa!"  
She gently pressed down on Nyla's nose to close her mouth. "Careful there. Okay." She gestured to our group. "Whose got something with the Avatar's scent on it."  
Thinking fast, I reached into Emrys's saddle.  
"I have Odette's staff," I said and handed it to her.  
Sage snatched it away and offered the staff in front of Nyla's snout as she sniffed it. Nyla then proceeded to sniff and walk around us while our group followed her movements. Nyla continued circling around us and sniffing out Odette's scent for a few more moments. She made one last round before walking back in front of Sage and lowering herself on the ground and rubbing her snout with her paws.  
Ren crossed his arms as Elise and I looked on, puzzled, behind him.  
"Well, what does that mean?" he snapped.  
I blinked. It was obvious to everyone that Ren was slowly starting to unravel over this, and we couldn't have that. Odette would be fine…if he had been around longer this wouldn't have been as big of a deal.  
Sage turned to him. "It means your girlfriend's gone."  
Elise snorted. "We know she's gone, that's why we're trying to find her."  
Sage stood up and turned back to our group suddenly. "No, I mean she's gone gone. She doesn't exist."  
I immediately glanced at Ren and the look in his eyes - the look of a man who had suddenly seemed to lose everything that mattered to him - was enough to haunt me for the rest of my life.

Odette:

I watch a squirrel creature as it tried to crack open a nut on a branch. Fang suddenly jumped in and caused it to drop its nut in fright. Fang then chased the creature around the thick, fat tree trunk. I walked by the trunk and looked around. Fang trotted back over and started winding around my legs.  
"Where are we, Fang?" I said as I looked up at the sun shining through the canopy. A family of dragonflies flew by. "Maybe I'm in the Spirit World. But wait, you can see me. We can't both be in the Spirit World."  
I waved my arms around and airbended a huge gust of air with ease. Confused, I looked at my hands. "Nope, my bending works. Maybe if we climb to the top of the island we could figure out where we are."

Ren:

I stared at Sage, numb with shock as an exasperated Alana snapped at her.  
"What do you mean Odette doesn't exist? Do you mean she's... you know, dead?" she asked.  
Sage patted her shirshu. "Nope, we could find her if she were dead. Ah, it's a real head scratcher. See ya." Our group looked as Sage mounted Nyla.  
Elise shook her head. "Helpful, real helpful."  
I wasn't giving up yet, not by a long shot. Odette was okay, she had to be. But until she decided to turn up again, I had to figure out what to do about tomorrow.  
"Wait," I walked to the front of our group and faced them. "I have another idea. There's only one other person in this World who can help us face the Fire Lord. I'll be right back with a smell sample."  
I went to the saddle and grabbed something out of my bag before taking it back to Sage. I lifted up Uncle's sandal that he dropped for me to find a while back. There were some flies buzzing around it and the stench was enough to knock out a fully grown mooselion.  
Kole, Tarren and Alana were pinching their noses and flinching from the stench.  
Alana looked at me, stunned. "You saved your Uncle's sweaty sandal?"  
"I think it's kind of sweet," Elise said as I lifted the sandal out in front of Nyla's nose. The beast growled after a moment and crouched low.  
"Let's do this." Sage said and pulled on Nyla's reins. In a matter of seconds, Nyla was running into the forest without us.  
I glowered. "Hey, wait up!"  
Our group proceeded to mount Emrys as she lifted her tail up. Emrys's tail slammed to the ground and she took off into the air. We spotted Nyla as she ran up a rocky slope with Emrys trying to catch up behind. After awhile, we came to some terraced flatland and followed closely behind as Nyla rapidly ran down the terraces.  
We traveled over the ruble until the two animals paused in front of the opening.  
"We're going to Eralith?" I asked, confused.  
Nyla scratched at the rubble, looking irritated. "Your Uncle's somewhere beyond the wall. Nyla's getting twitchy so he can't be too far. Good luck."  
Sage pulled her reins and Nyla ran off and disappeared into the night. I looked at the departing shirshu for a moment, beyond grateful for the help. I turned back with a slightly annoyed expression on my face.  
"It's been a long day. Let's camp and start our search again at dawn," I said.  
I silently sent a prayer out that everything would be okay. Tomorrow was the day everything changed, and I just hoped that when the sun came up, Odette would be there to face it with me.

Odette:

I walked near a flower motif on the ground, transfixed.  
"It's a hexagon," I said, noticing the distinct shape. Fang pawed the ground and surveyed it. I bent down and touched the ground, curious. "It doesn't seem like normal rock."  
I stood up and did an earthbending movement but nothing happened.  
"It's not made of earth. This is so strange." I sat down with my hands on my head in despair. "I wish I had some help right now. I wish I had Koren…Wait. I do have Koren!"  
I proceeded to sit up straight and inhaled audibly, deep in concentration. Fang suddenly growled and scurried away, frightened by some unknown presence. The light dimmed and a blue cloud of smoke came out of me, moving across me and forming a human-like shape. The smoke took shape into Avatar Koren sitting cross-legged and a blue aura-like mist surrounded him.  
"You're right, Odette. All the past Avatars, all their experience and wisdom, is available to you if you look deep inside yourself," he said with a smile.  
I looked around, still confused. "So where am I, Koren? What is this place?"  
Puzzled, Koren looked at the trees before turning back to me. "I... don't know, Odette. But I see that you are lost in more ways than one right now."  
"I am." I sighed and put on a serious face. "I need to figure out what to do once I face the Fire Lord."

Kole:

Ren and I slept on Emrys's side with our backs facing each other. Tarren and Alana were sleeping on Emrys's tail - Alana snoring audibly.  
I was just about to fall asleep when Elise - who had been snoring in her earth tent - suddenly woke up and touched the ground, earthbending her tent away a moment later. I sprang up at the same moment just as a ring of fire circled our group. The rest of us scrambled to their feet and took a defensive position. We turned our heads towards four people appearing at the top of the rubble in white and blue uniforms.  
After a moment of peering through the dust, I recognized a familiar figure.  
Dagon.  
Gasping I looked to the left and recognized more of the figures.  
Aries, Sorren and then Bumi.  
"Well, look who's here," Bumi said, throwing his arms out from under his robe.  
Bumi snorted and laughed. Alana and I had originally appeared worried but now we smile with relief and turned to look at each other. Tarren, Elise and Ren looked at us, completely puzzled.

Odette:

Koren listened to me patiently as I explained my impossible dilemma.  
"Everyone expects me to take the Fire Lord's life but I just don't know if I can do that," I sighed, distressed.  
Koren closed his eyes. "In my life, I tried to be disciplined and show restraint. But it backfired when Fire Lord Ezra took advantage of my restraint and mercy. If I had been more decisive and acted sooner, I could have stopped Ezra and stop the war before it started. I offer you this wisdom, Odette." He raised a finger. "You must be decisive."  
Koren gave me one last nod before he suddenly dissipated, leaving me alone and confused. I groaned and dropped my head in deep thought.

Ren:

"What's going on?" Elise growled as the four strange men looked at our group. "We're surrounded by old people."  
Kole grinned and walked towards them. "Not just any old people. These are great masters and friends of ours."  
Kole stopped in front of a water tribe man with silver hair and bowed. "Sorren."  
Sorren bowed in return but then opened his arms. "It is respectful to bow to an old master but how about a hug for your new grandfather?"  
I blinked in surprise at a shocked Kole with an equally dumbfounded Alana behind him. Kole's expression quickly changed into one of happiness though.  
"That's so exciting," he said and opened his arms and embraced Sorren. "You and Gran Gran must be so happy to have found each other again."  
He touched an area below his collar bone. "I made her a new betrothal necklace and everything."  
Alana comically entered the scene and hugged Sorren by the neck.  
"Welcome to the family Great Gramp," she said.  
He pushed Alana off him gently. "You can still just call me Sorren."  
Alana smiled goofily. "How about Grand Sorren?"  
"No," he replied, serious and Alana's shoulders drooped in disappointment.  
Kole turned to me and gestured for me to come closer, pointing to a man with a nasty looking scar. "And this was Odette's first firebending teacher.  
Surprised, I walked towards him and the master bowed.  
"Aries," he said and I quirked a small smile, a little jealous for some ridiculous reason that I hadn't been her first teacher.  
I turned to see Alana bowing to a tall man - younger than the rest - with King Bumi looking on.  
"Master Dagon," she said.  
Dagon bowed in return. "Hello, Alana."  
Tarren frowned, looking around, just as lost as I was. "So wait, how do you all know each other?"  
"All old people know each other don't you know that?" Dagon looked towards Bumi and smiled as Bumi snorted and laughed.  
Dagon turned back to us. "We're all part of the same ancient secret society. A group that transcends the divisions of the four nations."  
Suddenly it clicked.  
"The Order of the White Lotus," I gasped, smiling.  
I looked in amazement at Aries and Dagon as Bumi comically slid in front of them with a finger up in the air.  
"That's the one." Bumi comically exited after that and I smiled even wider.  
"The White Lotus has always been about philosophy, and beauty and truth," Aries said. "About a month ago, a call went out that we were needed for something important."  
"It came from a Grand Lotus, your Uncle, Irah of the Fire Nation," Sorren said and I started, surprised.  
Gran Lotus? He was the leader of this group of amazing masters and fighters? I suddenly felt pride glowing somewhere inside of me, and I suddenly realized how much I missed the old gas bag.  
Elise jumped up. "Well that's who we're looking for."  
Dagon nodded. "Then we'll take you to him."  
Bumi pushed apart their shoulders and looked around warily. "Wait, someone's missing from your group. Someone very important. Where's Fang?"  
Bumi pressed his face against Alana's who leaned back from the weight.  
"He's gone. And so is Odette," she said, saddened by the sentence. Even now, I felt a thorn sharp jab of pain in my chest.  
Bumi took a step back.  
He patted Alana's shoulder as she still remained in a leaning position. Alana flailed her arms around to regain her balance. "Oh well, so long as they have each other I'm sure we have nothing to worry about. Let's go."  
Bumi slammed his hand against the ground and earthbended a tall column of earth and propelled himself over the gap in the outer wall, laughing maniacally at the same time.  
Woah.

Odette:

Still sitting in the lotus position, I began to take Koren's advise and started to think…calling on the Avatars before me.  
I through for a moment before choosing my first. "Avatar Kyoshi, I need your wisdom."  
Fang appeared frightened from behind me and scurried away again as a blue wisp of smoke came out from my chest. I followed the trail of the smoke with my eyes and watched as it "solidified" into Avatar Kyoshi.  
She got right to it. "In my day, Chin the Conqueror threatened to throw the world out of balance. I stopped him and the world entered a great era of peace."  
"But you didn't really kill Chin," I commented uncomfortably, fiddling with a strand of my hair. "Technically he fell to his own doom because he was too stubborn to get out of the way."  
Avatar Kyoshi turned serious. "Personally I don't really see the difference but I assure you, I would have done whatever it took to stop Chin. I offer you this wisdom, Odette."  
She began to slowly shrink into white puff of smoke.  
"Only justice will bring peace…"  
The smoke finally dissipated. Annoyed, I leaned back and thought about her words.  
"I knew I shouldn't have asked Kyoshi."

Ren:

Emrys and the rest of our group walked down a rocky path inside Eralith.  
"So Bumi," Alana said. "How did you end up escaping your imprisonment in Naliwen?"  
"Escape? I didn't escape, everybody else escaped," he said and threw his arms into the air. "There I was, back in Naliwen, waiting for just the right moment. I didn't know what or when but I knew I'd know it when I knew it. An eclipse. That would do it. I took back the city when the benders lost their power. Naliwen is free now."  
Tarren was astounded. "Wow, you took back your whole city all by yourself."  
Bumi shrugged. "So what about you guys? Did you do anything interesting on the day of the eclipse?"  
Alana and I looked at each other before I turned my head away awkwardly.  
"Nah," I said.  
Alana shrugged, "No, not really."

Odette:

I thought deeply with my hands on my head, feeling a migraine coming on.  
"I need to look deep inside myself…" I said, pondering what that meant.  
Maybe I could use the advice from someone from the water tribe. If they were anything like Kole and Alana they might be compassionate enough to help me.  
I got into the lotus position and concentrated. Another blue cloud of smoke came out from me and an Avatar in Water Tribe gear "solidified" in front of me.  
"I am Avatar Linley. When I was young, I was always a "go with the flow" kind of Avatar. People seemed to work out their own problems and there was peace and good times in the world. But then, I lost the woman I loved to Koh, the face stealer. It was my fault, if I had been more attentive and more active, I could have saved her. Odette, you must actively shape your own destiny, and the destiny of the World."  
His form slowly diminished into white smoke like Kyoshi  
I brought my hands to my head in despair.

Ren:

We reached the inner wall of Eralith.  
Emrys and our group walked to the inside of a campsite with sheltered tents everywhere as the walls surrounding it got bended down by Bumi.  
"Well, here we are," Bumi said as he walked into camp. "Welcome to old people camp."  
Aries, Dagon, Sorren, and I walked in while I looked around, my stomach tied in knots as I came closer to the reason why I was here.  
"Where... where is he?" I asked, trying to swallow my nerves.  
Dagon pointed to a big sheltered tent at the end of campsite. "Your Uncle's in there, Prince Ren."  
I stared with disbelief and awkwardness, unsure. I walked towards Uncle's tent, feeling like me feet were weighed down by stones. I paused outside the tent, my courage wavering, and sat down. Kole walked over and stood beside me.  
"Are you okay?"  
"No," I huffed, turning my head away from Kole. "I'm not okay. My Uncle hates me, I know it.  
Kole lowered his self to the ground so he was at my level.  
"He loved me and supported me in every way he could and I still turned against him. How can I even face him?" I groaned, regretful as Kole looked on.  
"Ren, you're sorry for what you did, right?" he questioned.  
"Almost more sorry than I've been about anything in my entire life," I admitted.  
Kole frowned in confusion.  
I gave him a look. "Odette. I hated what I did to her and I will regret everything for the rest of my life, no matter how many time's she tells me she's forgiven me. I will never forgive myself. The same things I can say about my Uncle."  
Kole raised his shoulders. "Then he'll forgive you. He will."  
I turned my head back towards the tent and thought for a while before standing up.  
Here goes nothing.  
I paused and took a deep breath before pushing the curtains aside and stepping in.  
I couldn't even look up as I spoke, my voice barely rising above a whisper. "Uncle."  
A loud snore greeted me and I opened my eyes and looked up in surprise.  
Uncle was sleeping soundly and snoring loudly. It was a good sight to see. I never thought I would get to feel his presence again, it was almost like coming home.  
I smiled with affection and proceeded to sit down on the mat beside Uncle's sleeping mat.

Odette:

"All these past Avatars," I said to Fang, who was sitting beside me. "They keep telling me I'm gonna have to do it. They don't get it."  
Fang stood up and put his front paws on my knee, his face a few inches away from mine. I looked into his eyes and he barked, whining slightly as he wagged his tail.  
"You're right, maybe an air nomad Avatar would understand where I'm coming from."  
I rubbed my thumb on Fang's head as he nuzzled my face. I smiled and Fang jumped to my other side.  
"I know you can't really talk. Pretending you can just helps me think," I commented as I got into a meditating position. Fang made some animal sounds and I opened my eyes and looked slightly irritated at Fang.  
"I'm going to pretend I didn't pretend to hear that."  
I concentrated and Fang's ears stood up as another white-blue cloud of smoke came out from my chest and moved away. The spirit of a female airbender manifested in front of me. Fang scurried away frightened.  
"I am Avatar Daija, young airbender," she said.  
I raised my shoulders and looked at the surrounding trees. "Avatar Daija, the monks always taught me that all life is sacred. Even the life of the tiniest spider-fly caught in its own web."  
Daija nodded in agreement reluctantly. "Yes, all life is sacred."  
I grew optimistic since someone finally shared my views. "I know, I'm even a vegetarian. I've always tried to solve my problems by being quick or clever and I've only had to use violence for necessary defense and I've certainly never used it to take a life."  
"Avatar Odette," Daija said, suddenly turning grim and serious. "I know that you're a gentle spirit and the monks have taught you well. But this isn't about you, this is about the world."  
I stared in disbelief.  
"But the monks taught me that I had to detach myself from the world so my spirit could be free."  
"Many great and wise air nomads have detached ourselves and achieved spiritual enlightenment but the Avatar can never do it because your sole duty is to the world. Here is my wisdom for you, selfless duty calls you to sacrifice your own spiritual needs and do whatever it takes to protect the world," she said and disappeared.  
The smoke cleared and Fang peeked his head out from a tree trunk behind me as I dropped my head.  
I looked at Fang, defeated. "I guess I don't have a choice, Fang. I have to kill the Fire Lord."

Ren:

The next morning, I was still sitting beside a snoring Uncle.  
He stopped snoring and started to get up. My heart practically stopped beating as Uncle yawned and stretched.  
He turned his head slightly and noticed my presence but he then turned his head back and did not say anything.  
I struggled to control my emotions as fear, panic, sadness, regret, and everything else I could have possibly felt at that moment tumbled through me.  
He may not have said anything, but I needed to.  
"Uncle, I know you must have mixed feelings about seeing me." I spoke with my eyes closed but hot tears were visibly brimming under both eye lids. My voice cracked slightly and I shook my head, trying not to show how weak I was right now. "But I want you to know, I'm so so sorry, Uncle."  
I opened my eyes and looked towards him.  
"I'm so sorry and ashamed of what I did," I said as tears flowed down my cheeks. I closed my eyes again and shook my head. "I don't know how I can ever make it up to you but I'll-"  
I suddenly felt Uncle's hand grab my sleeve and pull me over to him.  
He pulled me into a comforting hug, crushing me lightly again him as I continued crying Uncle smiled, shocking me further.  
"How can you forgive me so easily? I thought you would be furious with me," I said, a little breathless.  
"I was never angry with you. I was sad because I was afraid you lost your way," he said and brought a hand up to the back of my head.  
"I did lose my way," I admitted, grinning like a goofball. Both of us parted and Uncle placed his hands on my shoulders.  
"But you found it again," he said and I raised my head to look at my Uncle as he smiled. "And you did it by yourself. And I am so happy you found your way here."  
Emotional, I smiled and Uncle pulled me back into a hug again.  
Everything was finally falling into place, all I needed was Odette back.  
"It wasn't that hard, Uncle." I raised my arms and hugged him tightly. "You have a pretty strong scent."

Odette:

I opened my eyes to see a squirrel scurrying along a tree branch with sunlight shining through the canopy. White birds flew by as I yawned and pushed myself off the ground. I looked up ahead slightly startled.  
"Wait," I said, watching some mountains at the edge of the sea as they seemed to increase in size. "Is it just me or are those mountains getting bigger?"  
Fang barked at me happily as I jumped up and landed on top of the tallest tree. My eyes widened as I turned my head back to some churning currents on the surface of the water behind the forested area.  
"They're not getting larger, they're getting closer," I exclaimed happily and jumped down. As soon as I landed I began hopping across the forest floor with Fang running closely behind me. "The whole island is moving!"  
Soon I would be reunited with my friends and Ren, who I was sure was worried sick about me.  
I traveled until I reached an area in the sea beside the forested area. A shadow could be seen under the water directly beneath the forested area. Curious, I jumped into water. I swam deeper down the dark shape in the water and looked. A rumble vibrated in the water and I looked down as a gargantuan reptilian claw paddled into view, creating a lot of bubbles. Transfixed, I looked at a swirl of bubble beneath me as I swam up and resurfaced with a gasp. I rubbed the water from my eyes and Fang yapped at me from the edge of the island.  
I faced the wolf and pointed forward. "It's amazing, Fang! The biggest animal in the world! I've got to swim around and find its face."  
I quickly proceeded to swim off with a freestyle stroke. Fang ran along the shoreline to follow me, keeping up with me easily.

Ren:

In the Order of the White Lotus' camp, various members were already out of their tents for breakfast. The rest of our group had joined them and Uncle and I were the last to grab our food. We took seats beside them and began to catch up. Alana was quick to jump all over Odette and I.  
"So, General Irah…Guess who Ren decided to start mashing faces with!" she said, grinning evilly at me while I glared.  
Uncle turned to me with a big grin lighting up his face, his expression smug as he waggled his eyebrows. I felt my face redden furiously and I looked to the side uncomfortably, clearing my throat and stuffing more food in my face.  
Uncle laughed and shoved me lightly. "Come on, Ren. I've never been one to judge."  
I swallowed painfully and sighed, fidgeting uncomfortably.  
"Okay, okay…I'm, uh…well I decided…Uncle, I really like…Um…" for some reason I just couldn't say it; it was so strange telling him, especially since the last time he saw me I had sworn up and down that I hated Odette and would do anything to make sure she was dead.  
Alana groaned loudly and we turned to look at her, me with a "kill me now" expression.  
"His new girlfriend is Odette. There like a band aid!" she said sharply, giving me a dry look.  
Uncle turned to me in surprise, his eyes wide and his mouth practically hanging open in shock.  
"The Avatar?" he clarified and I winced, nodding.  
He stared at me for a few more moments before he smiled the biggest smile ever - which was saying something for him - and started laughing joyously.  
"Hahaha! Well that's just wonderful!" he chuckled and it stared at him in surprise.  
"Your…okay with this?" I asked.  
He grinned and hugged me. "I'm happy with whatever you decide. I had a feeling that that was where you two were headed anyways."  
Now it was my turn for my jaw to hit the floor. "What?! How did you know!"  
He shrugged. " Nephew, it was all over you face."  
I grumbled in embarrassment as everyone broke out into laughter.  
Uncle smiled and gave me a look. "Plus she's quite the looker, eh? Hard to miss a girl like that."  
I nodded awkwardly and smiled slightly, feeling a pang of sadness that she was still missing. I shook my head and straightened, cutting back to the chase. We had a serious matter to discuss before the comet came today.  
"Uncle, Odette…well she's disappeared," I said, and I was painfully aware of everyone looking at me worriedly as my voice cracked with sadness.  
Uncle frowned and turned to me. "What do you mean?"  
"She's gone," I said sadly. " And I'm beginning to things she's… not going to come back."  
He sighed and gave me a serious look. "I can see that you love her very much…and that kind of love forms a bond stronger than anything. Look inside yourself Ren. Picture her, feel her spirit. See if the bond is broken."  
"What?" I asked, totally lost.  
He rolled his eyes and placed my hand over my heart. "Picture her in your mind. Find your bond…you'll know what I'm talking about if you just try it."  
I gave him a look but sighed and closed my eyes, picturing her face, her laugh, everything. In my mind, I reached out for the image, yearning for it, then I felt something. It was like an invisible wire or something, thinner than thread but still there. It was strong as iron and it connected to the image in my mind. It was the things that connected us together, the pull that I always felt when she was away from me.  
Suddenly, I heard the strangest thing in the world…her voice in my head.  
"I'm coming home…"  
My eyes snapped open and I gasped, feeling ready to pass out with relief.  
I wasn't sure how I knew…but she was alive. I could feel it in every inch of my body. If she were gone, I would have a noticeable emptiness inside me. I would know if she were dead or not. Odette was safe, and she was coming back soon.  
I grinned and turned to the others. "She's okay, and she's coming back."  
The others looked just as relived and Uncle smiled smugly, satisfied with my response.  
But there was still something that needed to be resolved.  
"Uncle, Odette's fine but she's still gone and you're the only person other than her who can possibly defeat the Father Lord."  
Elise said and pointed her chopsticks towards my arm. "You mean the Fire Lord."  
"That's what I just said," I replied distracted and she resumed eating.  
Uncle pondered this. "Hmm.."  
"We need you to come with us," I continued.  
He immediately lowered his chopsticks. "No, Ren. It won't turn out well."  
I snorted. "You can beat him and we'll be there to help."  
"Even if I did defeat Mordred, and I don't know that I could. It will be the wrong way to end the war. History would see it as just more senseless violence, a brother killing a brother to grab power. The only way for this war to end peacefully is for the Avatar to defeat the Fire Lord," he said and I felt frustration burn through me.  
Did he always have to be right?  
"And then... then would you come and take your rightful place on the throne?" I questioned, determined to make sure everything was going to go smoothly.  
My hopes plummeted when he turned his head to me and answered.  
"No. Someone new must take the throne. An idealist with a pure heart and unquestionable honor. It has to be you, Prince Ren."  
I spluttered, shocked and looked to the side in disbelief.  
"Unquestionable honor? But I've made so many mistakes," I raised my shoulders in a small shrug.  
It wasn't that I didn't want to be Fire Lord because I did. I wanted to have the power to make a difference in my country…but I didn't want to make any mistakes. I still thought I needed time to learn and I wasn't sure I was ready for a responsibility as great as this.  
"Yes, you have," Uncle said and I winced. "You struggled, you suffered but you have always followed your own path, you restored your own honor. And only you can restore the honor of the Fire Nation."  
I looked down in thought, understanding what he was saying. I still wasn't entirely sure this was what he wanted…but I had to do this. I could do it, especially with everyone who I cared about by my side.  
I nodded determinedly. "I'll try, Uncle."  
"Well," Elise said and Alana along with the rest of us turned towards her. "What if Odette doesn't come back?"  
"Ezra's Comet is arriving and our destinies are upon us. Odette will face the Fire Lord," Uncle said reassuringly. "When I was a boy, I had a vision that I would one day take Eralith. Only now do I see that my destiny is to take it back from the Fire Nation so the Earth Kingdom can be free again."  
Tarren raised and arm out. "That's why you gathered the members of the White Lotus."  
"Yes," he said and Kole turned his head back to him as he continued. "Ren, you must return to the Fire Nation so that when the Fire Lord falls, you can assume the throne and restore peace and order."  
I nodded in agreement, listening attentively.  
His expression turned dark and even slightly worried. "But Athera will be there, waiting for you."  
I frowned at that but remained confident. "I can handle Athera."  
"Not alone," he sad sternly, startling me. "You'll need help."  
I considered, thinking of Athera's raw power and unpredictable temper. She could easily end me if I didn't keep my guard up.  
"You're right. Kole," I asked, looking at him as he raised his head up. "How would you like to help me put Athera in her place?"  
Kole smiled nastily, a strange look on his usually kind face. "It would be my pleasure."  
"What about us?" Alana asked and we turned to her, Elise, and Tarren. "What's our destiny today?"  
Uncle quirked an eyebrow. "What do you think it is?"  
Alana paused with her hand on her chin in thought. "I think that... even though we don't know where Odette is, we need to do everything we can to stop the airship fleet."  
Elise nodded, smiling. "And that means when Odette does face the Fire Lord, we'll be right there if she needs us."  
She smacked both of her fists together as I glanced at my smiling Uncle.  
Within an hour, in the rocky regions in between the walls of Eralith, Elise and Tarren appeared unsteadily. They were seated on a saddle mounted onto a giant lizard-like creature with Dagon briefing Alana at the bottom.  
"Nothing runs faster over land or swims quicker than a giant eel-hound," he said and handed Alana a scroll. "The airship base is on a small island just off the Earth Kingdom shore."  
Alana unrolled the scroll to show a map of the Earth Kingdom.  
"You should be able to intercept the fleet within a day's journey," he continued as Alana lowered the scroll and rolled it back up.  
"Thank you, Master," she said.  
I watched the master and pupil as they bowed to each other. Alana hugged Dagon by the waist to his surprise and Dagon lowered his arm to Alana's shoulders, assuring. Various members of the Order of the White Lotus turned to me, sending off Emrys, Kole, and I.  
"So if I'm going to be Fire Lord after the war is over, what are you going to do?" I asked, feeling weird even saying it.  
Uncle he brought out a white lotus tile from his belt and flipped the tile into the air like a coin and caught it back. "After I re-conquer Eralith, I'm going to re-conquer my tea shop and I'm going to play Pai Sho everyday."  
He brought the tile closer to his belly, smiling excitedly.  
I laughed slightly with a smile, Kole behind me in the saddle. Both of us looked across to Alana and Tarren who were looking back.  
Alana nodded sadly, worry in her eyes as she looked at us.  
"Goodbye, General Irah," Kole said, his eyes still on his sister.  
"Goodbye, everyone," he replied, looking up at me with pride, worry, and hope. "Today, destiny is our friend. I know it."  
I nodded, determined.  
"Take care of yourself," I said. I turned to the people I had grown close to over the past few weeks. "All of you."  
Alana gave a loud whop of excitement, pumping her fist in the air.  
"Team Avatar!" she cried out victoriously and the eel-hound turned around and took off, leaving a trail of dust behind them.  
I laughed and flicked our dragon's reins. Emrys slammed her tail against the ground and flew off as the members waved goodbye below.

Odette:

The unseen reptilian creature was still making its way towards the mountains. I'd finally reached the front of the island and paused to take a deep breath before diving under.  
Once underwater, I took notice in the intricate patterns on the creature's shell as I swam towards it, leaving a trail of bubbles behind me.  
I studied the circular patterns on the shell in awe as I stopped in front of the creature's closed eye lid. I looked around warily. The eye lid opened and I spun around to face the eye directly. Surprised, I suddenly got lifted upwards by the creature's claw but I wasn't afraid. The colossal beast had a calm, gentleness about it that made me feel relaxed and safe. I struggled against the water pressure as a strange weight began to press on me, making me uncomfortable..  
The creature's brownish head emerged from the water followed shortly by his claw with me standing on it. It was a giant turtle-like creature which had an overgrowth of trees on his back.  
"A lion turtle," I smiled and bowed respectfully. These were very sacred and rare creatures to come across. "Maybe you can help me. Everyone, even my own past lives are expecting me to end someone's life. But I don't know if I can do it."  
The massive lion turtle moved its mouth to speak, immediately confusing me. "The true mind can weather all the lies and illusions without being lost. The true heart can touch the poison of hatred without being harmed. Since beginningless time, darkness thrives in the void, but always yields to purifying light."  
As he spoke, it raised a claw out of the water and two claws touched my forehead and chest. Green light illuminated my entire world once the lion turtle made contact with me and I widened my eyes with realization as he showed me my final option.

Suddenly, I felt myself being lowered and hard rock beneath my bare feet. The lion turtle lowered me and brought me close to the edge of the cliff.  
Still stunned and dizzy with my new discovery, I stepped off and Fang jumped off the claw and landed beside me. I looked down at the lion turtle, still in awe.  
"Wait for him, he will come," he said,  
The lion turtle dropped back into the water and I bowed, eternally grateful for the gift that I had just been given. I watched as the lion turtle slowly backed away from the mountains until he disappeared.  
Well that had been a weird experience.  
Fang and I glanced at each other before we turned and started to race away to the beach house.

Mordred:

"It's time for this World to end in fire and for a new world to be born from the ashes," I growled as my air fleet followed behind my lead ship.  
I looked around the earth's atmosphere as the white Ezra's comet brushed against it and the whole atmosphere glowed red hot while the comet burned a bright orange.  
I looked at the horizon as it slowly turned red, already feeling my power increase ten fold. And it had only just begun.

Odette:

They sky turned a brilliant, bloody red, like a bad omen, a sign of the coming destruction and death that was about to unfold.  
I stood on top of a pillar looking ahead at the endless fleet of Fire Nation air ships that had appeared in the distance, clad in the same battle gear I had worn for the invasion. The comet burned fiercely through its journey across the atmosphere, shining brightly from behind some mountains.  
I could feel my power swelling, growing as the comet fueled my firebending abilities. I was ready to face my destiny. Whatever happened, we would survive this. My companions were strong and almost as determined as me. They would be fine. All I had to worry about now was myself.  
Ezra's comet had finally arrived.


	20. Chapter 20: Into the Inferno

Ren:

Ezra's Comet streaked over the ground, its red energy destroying the clouds in its path.  
Emrys flew through the blood red sky, charging forward fearlessly.  
Kole looked at me, seeing how edgy I was.  
"Ren, don't worry, we can take Athera," he said.  
I rolled my eyes. "I'm not worried about her, I'm worried about Odette. What if she doesn't have the guts to take out my Father? What if she loses?"  
The words sent a cold chill down my spine that took my breath away.  
"Odette won't lose. She's gonna come back. She has to," he replied, lowering his eyes.  
I knew he was just as worried as I was, no matter how many times we were told she would pull through.  
I looked forward into the horizon.

Athera:

At the Fire Nation palace, my hair was being combed from the back and my heel being scrubbed.  
Three servant girls were grooming me, and one other was kneeling and holding a bowl of cherries up to me.  
I took a cherry and began to chew it, relaxed and at ease. A crunching noise sounded as I bit down on something hard as a rock and I opened my eyes in surprise. I spat the pit of the cherry into my palm and showed it to the servant girl serving the cherries.  
"What am I holding?" I growled sternly.  
The Servant Girl spoke quietly. "A cherry pit, Princess."  
"Correct. And what day is this?"  
"It is the day of your coronation."  
"Yes, it is. So please, tell me why on the most important day of my life you decided to leave a pit in my cherry?" I glared at the pit between my fingers and threw it at the servant girl's head furiously.  
"It wasn't a decision. It was just a small mistake," the girl murmured, frightened.  
"Small? Do you realize what could have happened if I hadn't sensed the pit in time?" I hissed. The other servant girls looked to the one with the cherries, worried.  
"I supposed you could have... Choked?" she mumbled.  
"Yes. Then you will understand the severity of your crime," I snarled.  
The servant girl bowed her head to the floor. "I understand, Princess. Please, forgive me."  
"Oh very well. Since this is a special day, I will show mercy," I said nonchalantly and the servant smiled, relieved. "You are banished. Leave this palace immediately."  
The servant, shocked, stood up and slowly walked backwards, keeping her head down.  
Idiot.  
"What are you all looking at? I have two feet that need scrubbing. And make sure you get in between the toes," I snapped at the others and held the foot scrubber up with my toes. "I won't have my first day as Fire Lord marred by poor foot hygiene."  
Everything must be perfect.

Alana:

The eel hound swam swiftly through a body of water with Elise, Tarren, and I riding on top. I was dressed in my water tribe warrior gear, ready for action as were the others. A bright red light could be seen on the horizon behind us.  
"It's weird to say, but the comet actually looked beautiful," Tarren commented.  
Elise nodded even though she couldn't see squat. "Too bad the Fire Lord is about to use it to destroy the world."  
I smiled slightly at their comments as we headed toward land in the distance. In a surprisingly shot amount of time, the eel hound reached shore and dismounted and continued on foot. We quickly climbed up a hill to the edge of a cliff. We eventually reached the top only to find Fire Nation airships beginning to take off, with Mordred's giant airship leading.  
"We're too late! The fleet's already taking off!" I gasped, dread filling me.  
Elise slapped me so hard on the arm I thought it was going to break for a moment. "Then we're taking off too. Where's the closest airship? "  
"It's right-"  
Before I could answer, Elise grabbed me and Tarren by the back of our shirts and catapulted the three of us into the air by bending a pillar of rock up from underneath us. As I screamed in fright, we were flung high into the air, and then slowly fell towards an airship. Tarren and I landed on the airship's catwalk while catching Elise in the fall.  
"Ugh," she groaned, looking like she was going to be sick.  
I shook my head, smiling, and the three of us climbed up a ladder and into the main body of the airship.

Athera:

Dai Li agents walked forward in the Fire Nation throne room, where I was proudly seated, surrounded by blue flames. They approached me and kneeled before me.  
"You sent for us, Princess? Is everything alright?" one of the agents asked, completely at ease.  
That would not do.  
I glared down, irritated. "Actually, everything's not alright. Do you know how long it took you to get here?"  
"A... few minutes I guess?" the agent replied, confused.  
I snorted. "Five, to be precise. In which time an assassin could have snuck in, done away with me and been on his merry way."  
The Dai Li Agent winced. "My apologies, Princess."  
That's better…fear me….  
"Is this how you plan to treat your new Fire Lord? With tardiness and disloyalty?"  
"The Dai Li would never betray you."  
"And I'm sure that's just what you told Long Fang before you turned against him and joined me. You're all banished!" I snapped and the Dai Li agents looked up, shocked.  
"But…"  
"Goodbye."  
Like a smart little peasant would do, the lead agent took one last glare at me before getting up and walking away. The other agents followed after.  
"Please send in the next group on your way out," I hissed after them, tilting my head down and glaring venomously.

Alana:

The Fire Nation air fleet flew over the ocean.  
Tarren and I slowly walked towards one of the airship's cabins, heading towards the door. We reached it without being noticed and put our backs to the wall next to the door.  
"Shh," I whispered.  
Elise walked up to the door and raised her hand to it, knocking on it in the same rhythm of 'shave and a haircut.' On the last knock, the door was knocked down by Elise kicking it, revealing three pilots and the captain lounging about inside the cabin. Immediately after, Elise fell forward on to the fallen door and rolled, using metal bending to cover the metal door all around her body like armor.  
A fire blast hit Elise, but she was unharmed, the captain looking surprised. He punched and sent another fireball at Elise, but she rolled backwards to avoid the attack, and in the same movement kicked her leg into the air, which bended the sheet of metal the captain was standing on up and through the ceiling. One of the firebenders shot a fire blast at Elise, who shielded herself with the metal plates on the floor.  
Tarren and I both dodged to the sides of the door, avoiding the fire blast which had been strengthened by the comet.  
As the flames died down, Elise jumped up from behind her shield and kicked to the side, bending a large metal pipe on the ceiling towards one of the firebenders and pinning him to the wall. She swung her leg to the other side and bent part of the metal floor up at another firebender just as he attacked, which pinned him to the other wall. From her back, Elise sprang upwards and clung to the ceiling. She began crawling towards the front of the cabin. The last remaining firebender shot a fire blast at Elise but missed. Elise jumped down from the ceiling behind the firebender. He swung his arm around to catch Elise with a fiery whip attack, but she blocked his arm with her armor covered arm and the firebender's blocked attack burst through a window. The firebender held his forearm painfully and just as he looked back up to Elise, she delivered a straight punch to his face.  
Tarren and I watched as he flew through the door and hit the wall. We peeped into the cabin, the firebender knocked out behind us. We walked into the cabin, which was now mangled due to Elise's metal bending. Elise peeled the metal from around her head, then quickly shed the rest of the makeshift armor off her body.  
She spat large wad of spit at one of the firebenders. "That's how it's done."  
I nodded my approval, impressed. "Good work, Elise. Time to take control of the ship. Take the wheel."  
Elise looked at me sarcastically. "That's a great idea! Let the blind girl steer the giant airship."  
I glared at her, annoyed. "I was talking to Tarren."  
She deflated, un-amused. "That would make a lot more sense."  
Tarren laughed as he took the wheel. "What are we going to do about the rest of the crew?"  
"Take us down closer to the water. I've got an idea," I said.  
I looked around the cabin, and then grabbed a speaker connected to a tube.  
I cleared my throat and began imitating a captain's voice. "Attention crew, this is your Captain speaking. Everyone please report to the bomb bay immediately for hot cakes and... sweet cream. We have a very special birthday to celebrate."  
once I was sure everyone was down there, I opened a communication hatch near the control panels of the airship, listening to make sure my plan worked.  
"Hey. I'm Quin, I work up in communications," someone said.  
"Oh hi, I work down in the engine room. It's probably why we've never met before. Big airship, you know?" the engineer replied.  
"Huh."  
"Yep."  
"So, do you know whose birthday it is?"  
"I can't believe the Captain remembered my birthday! He really does care," a new voice said, filled with happiness.  
My jaw hit the floor and Tarren rolled his eyes and pulled a lever off to my right.  
Immediately after the sentence was finished, the bomb bay doors opened and they were dropped into the ocean. The firebenders that Elise had taken out were also thrown out of the cabin window, breaking it into a thousand shards.  
I looked at the broken window of the cabin as I walked toward it, looking up at the other airship with Tarren.  
"Fire Lord Mordred, here we come," I said triumphantly.  
I grabbed the throttle and pushed it forward.

Athera:

At the throne, I laid against one of the pillars that surround it. I looked left just as footsteps were heard to see Ella and Ava walking towards the throne.  
"Athera, we heard what happened. Why have you banished all your servants?" Ava asked.  
"All your Dai Li agents?" Ella seconded.  
Ava frowned, looking around. "And the Imperial firebenders?"  
I waved my had dismissively. "None of them could be trusted. Sooner or later, they all would have betrayed me. Just like Naveen and Kenna did."  
Ava & Ella spoke at the same time. "Athera, we are concerned for you and your well being."  
I glared at Ella and Ava darkly. "My Father asked you to come here and talk to me, didn't he? He thinks I can't handle the responsibility of being Fire Lord! But I will be the greatest leader in Fire Nation history!"  
Ella was startled. "I'm sure you will. But considering everything that has happened today…"  
"Perhaps it's best you postponed your coronation," Ava finished.  
I angrily spun on them. "What?! Which one of you just said that?"  
Ella and Ava both pointed at each other.  
I shook my head in disappointment. "What a shame. There's only one way to resolve this. You two must duel each other. I order you to fight an Agni Kai."  
Ella spluttered. "But…"  
"We're not firebenders," they said at the same time.  
God, that was annoying.  
"Alright, fine." I pointed to one. "Ella, you're banished."  
I then pointed to the other.  
"Ava, you can stay," I said and walked off.  
"But I'm Ava. So who's banished?" I heard one of them say.  
Ella shrugged at Ava.  
Let them figure it out, so long as one of them was gone when I returned.

Irah:

Fire Nation tanks rolled through the streets of Eralith towards the main gate, lining up. Past the inner wall, on three giant stone platforms, the members of the Order of the White Lotus had gathered. A flag of the Order of the White lotus billowed bravely in the wind. Aries, Bumi, Sorren, and Dagon stood by my side, as loyal as they had always been.  
"Eralith, the Order of the White Lotus is here," Bumi said.  
Sorren nodded. "Here to set you free."  
I stood in front of the other Order members, tilting up.  
"Only once every hundred years can a firebender experience this kind of power," I said, feeling it growing and expanding inside me.  
I inhaled deeply through my nose as Ezra's Comet approached. As I exhaled, and a ring of flame appeared around our group. I continued to breathe deeply, and each time I inhaled, the flames grow larger. The ring of fire around us continued to grow more intense, pulsing with each of my breaths.  
Finally, I opened my eyes and raised my arms. I thrust my hands forward and gave a battle cry. The flames surrounding me converged into one giant ball of fire. A sound could be heard as the fireball gained energy, just before it was unleashed forward as a massive fire blast. The attack rocketed forward and demolished the wall in front of it. Debris flew everywhere, landing amongst the Fire Nation tanks.  
Bumi hopped forward and stomped the ground. The three stone platforms the Order members were standing on began to quickly slide towards Eralith. Behind the destroyed section of the wall fire blasts were shot at the Order members, only to be deflected. All the old masters all leapt off of the stone platform.  
In an alleyway, Sorren jumped up from behind a building and onto its roof. He bended a enormous wave of water over the building and down towards the Fire Nation soldiers below and Dagon leapt over it. Sorren turned the wave into ice, freezing the soldiers in place. Dagon slid down the frozen wave and slashed the ends of the soldier's spears, followed closely behind by Sorren. As they slid into another street, Sorren unfroze the water, bent it up in front of him and froze it again to block an incoming fire blast. The ice barrier was destroyed, and another fire blast was about to hit Sorren when a great wall of fire erupted in front of him, stopping the attack.  
Aries, the one who created the wall of fire, floated in the air using firebending to create fire jets beneath his feet. Aries turned to another street. A line of tanks began to fire on him, but he stopped the attacks with another wall of fire. He hovered over a large intersection of streets, with tanks surrounding him. He hovered toward another street and created another wall of fire to block an attack. Aries waved his arms in the air and thrust them forward, sending the wall of fire down the street and towards the tanks, pushing them back. More tanks began to fire on him from another street, but Aries repeated his last actions, creating a wall of flame and attacking the tanks with it. The tanks were knocked over and in a pile as the wall of fire pushed another tank into the pile.

Athera:

I stood in front of a large mirror, pulling my long hair up into a top knot.  
I took a red ribbon and began to tie it. I looked up at my reflection and saw that my finger was caught in the knot. Frustrated, I yanked the finger out and grabbed a pair of scissors from the table next to me.  
"Alright hair, it's time to face your doom," I growled.  
I grabbed the bangs hanging in front of my face and lifted the scissors in the air, slicing the hair away and letting it fall to my feet. My reflection in the mirror showed me grinning insanely, my hair a mess. My grin disappeared though as a familiar figure appeared in the reflection behind me.  
Elena. Mother.  
"What a shame, you always had such beautiful hair," she said.  
I started, feeling fire burn through me at the sight of her. "What are you doing here?"  
"I didn't want to miss my own daughter's coronation."  
I snorted. "Don't pretend to act proud. I know what you really think of me. You think I'm a monster."  
"I think you're confused. All your life you used fear to control people. Like your friends Naveen and Kenna," she said calmly.  
"But what choice do I have?! Trust is for fools. Fear is the only reliable way. Even you fear me," I hissed, smug.  
"No. I love you, Athera. I do."  
My lip started quivering.  
I lowered my head, tears dripping from her eyes.  
THAT LYING WENCH!  
My hand clutched a brush on the table and I suddenly turned around and angrily threw the brush at the reflection of Elena, shattering the mirror.  
I turned back around and realized that I was alone.  
I fell to my knees and started to sob.

Alana:

Using a spyglass, I could easily see Mordred standing at the front of his airship, decked out in a creepy outfit.  
I watched as the monster inhaled deeply then exhales, opening his eyes, and smiling.  
The other airship's were behind his, and the airship that Tarren, Elise, and I took were just beneath it. It was clear to not only me that they were too far gone by this point.  
"We're not going to catch up to him in time," I murmured.  
Tarren shook his head sadly. "No…"  
I watched as Mordred spread his arms outward and tilted his head back. After a moment, he tilted his head back down and smiled sadistically. Mordred raised his arms in the air, then thrust his palm down towards the ground beneath. A small but incredibly intense flame ignited in front of his hand, growing steadily larger until it finally erupted into an enormous fire blast that ignited the earth below. My face paled as I watched him swath the earth in fire, his great stream heading towards to horizon.

Odette:

I stood atop a tall, stone pillar, facing Mordred's assault without fear. Fang was seated beside me loyally and barked, pawing the ground.  
I glanced down and patted his head, pressing a soft kiss into his fur.  
"Fang, time for you to go," I said, hoping he would stay out of the way and be safe.  
Fang whined but leaped away and ran as fast as he could away from the coming destruction.  
I watched him go before adjusting the straps on my armor, making sure everything was secure. I bound my hair up, making sure none of it would get in my way although a few strands still hung down.  
Well, here we go.  
I closed my eyes and breathed deeply.  
I proceeded to perform several spinning kicks, using earthbending to send giant sections of the stone pillar beneath me towards Mordred's ship. The chunks of rock whistled past the side of Mordred's airship, which seemed to catch his notice. The last few pieces of rock struck the airship's engine, which caused Mordred to lose balance and cease his attack. I watched the airship as smoke drifted from the engine. It lost power and began to descend. Mordred looked down to see me. I spun my body around, gathering my energy, and unleashed a huge fire blast at Mordred's ship, striking the finishing blow to its engine.  
I turned to the side towards the airship and it floated past me, facing Mordred for the first time. Mordred stared at me with surprise, obviously not expecting what he saw.  
I faced Mordred confidently as I lowered my bending stance. Mordred removed his Phoenix King armor and cloak, burning it and leaving his chest bare. He leaped off of the platform he was standing on, using his firebending to fly like a rocket towards me. Mordred's airship crashed into the field of giant stone pillars. Mordred landed on top of another stone pillar a ways away from me.  
His airship smoldering behind him, he fixed me with hungry, glittering eyes.

Alana:

I watched the burning airship through a spyglass, stunned. Tarren, Elise, and I were still inside the airship cabin.  
"What just happened?" Tarren gaped.  
I panned the spyglass around to see a very familiar figure standing on a stone pillar, facing her enemy. Her long, pretty brown hair was bound up and her grey eyes shined with confidence and the heat of battle.  
I lowered the spyglass, excited. "It's Odette! She's back!"

Odette:

Mordred and I faced each other.  
"After generations of Fire Lords failed to find you, now the universe delivers you to me as an act of providence," he sneered at me, his handsome face twisted into a mask of rage.  
I tried to reason before things got ugly. "Please listen to me. We don't have to fight. You have the power to end it here and stop what you're doing."  
"You are right. I do have the power. I have all the power in the world!"  
Okay. Ugly it is.  
At the end of Mordred's last line, torrents of fire erupted from Mordred's mouth and hands and I entered my battle stance. Mordred then jumped, spun in the air, and slammed his fist downward, creating a circular wave of flame that spread toward me. I jumped over the attack and them slammed my hands and feet into the stone pillar below me. I earthbended a piece of the pillar I was holding on to into the air. I rotated it around and then kicked the chunk of rock at Mordred, who leaped away using his firebending. In mid air, Mordred propelled himself at me using a jet of fire underneath his foot. At the same time, I jumped towards Mordred, performing a spinning kick and sending a wave of fire at him. Mordred then kicked forward and shot a fire blast from his foot. The two attacks collided in a fiery explosion.

Alana:

Using my spyglass, I looked through the broken window of the airship cabin we were in.  
"Go, Odette! Airbending slice!" I cheered, swinging my hand down.  
Tarren frowned, his emerald green eyes troubled. "Shouldn't we be helping him?"  
"The Fire Lord is Odette's fight. We need to stay focused on stopping that fleet from burning down the Earth Kingdom," I said.  
"And how do we do that, Captain Boomerang? I can't see outside of this floating hunk of metal," Elise commented.  
I smiled as I came up with an idea and turned around, my blue eyes sparkling. "Airship slice!"  
Tarren raised his eyebrow at me and Elise blew some of her black hair out of her face.  
The airship we were piloting ascended. I was at the wheel as I pulled some levers at the helm and the ship continued to gain altitude. I spun the wheel to my left and the airship banked left towards the left end of the airship fleet behind it.  
From the side of the airship fleet, a row of firebenders stood on platforms jutting out towards the front. In unison, they thrust their palms towards the ground and unleashed comet powered torrents of flame downward, hitting the earth. The fire burned the ground below, creating an immense amount of smoke. A forest below was engulfed in flames in an instant. Elise looked down at the chaos through the cabin's shattered window.  
"Whoa. That's a lot of fire, isn't it?" she asked.  
At the wheel, I spun it back around as our airship came to face the side of the airship fleet. I pulled more levers, steadying the ship. Taking a breath to brace myself, I pulled a lever down.  
On the dial, its needle turned to the maximum. The exhaust pipes of the airship turned fiery and smoke began to billow out. The airship's engine from outside began to rupture and explode.  
Gritting my teeth in determination, I turned to the others.  
"It's going to be a rough ride. We need to get to the top of this thing, fast," I said.  
I grabbed Elise's hand and we ran to the exit, Tarren following. Tarren and I both stopped at the doorway as Elise continued on.  
"Then what?" he asked, his face troubled.  
I shrugged and ran a hand through his soft blond hair. "Watch each other's backs and if we make it that far, I'll let you know."  
Tarren grabbed me, lacing his fingers thought my dark hair as we shared a quick kiss before going on. The airship began to descend and then proceeded to plough into the other airships, one after the other, causing them to crash.  
Elise, Tarren, and I climbed our way up the ladder to the top of the airship. The floor beneath was demolished just as I grabbed the ladder. At the top of the airship, the three of them climbed out through a hatch on top. I grabbed Elise's hand and we all began running to the front of the airship as it continued to fly through the fleet, slowly destroying itself in the process.  
Just as we neared the end, part of the front of the airship split, separating Tarren from Elise and I. Tarren reached out to us and fell away. My eyes flew wide with horror as our piece of the airship pulled away.  
"Tarren!" I screamed.  
The nose of the airship broke away from the rest of it as it rammed into one last enemy airship. Desperate, I reached out to Tarren in front of me. Tarren jumped off the crumbling airship and onto another one.  
"I'm okay! Just finish the mission!" he said.  
I shook my head, not being able to bear the thought of parting from him now. "No…"  
Elise grabbed my arm, her hand tight with fear. "Alana, I think we've gotta…"  
"Jump!" we both cried at the same time.  
The nose of the airship slammed into the side of an enemy airship. Elise and I fell downwards and landed on the airship below, stumbling forward. I quickly covered Elise with my body to shield her from the falling debris.

Kole:

We finally reached the ceremonial plaza at the palace where the Fire Lord was coroneted, ducts of waters streaming on both sides of the area.  
Athera was kneeling at the top of the plaza steps, wearing the Fire Lord robes and with her armor underneath. Behind her were several fire sages. The leader of the sages held the Fire Lord diadem above Athera's head.  
"By decree of Phoenix King Mordred, I now crown you Fire Lord…"  
The sage paused as he looked up. Athera turned her head to him, her eyes crazed and glittering gold.  
"What are you waiting for? Do it!"  
Emrys let out a defending bellow and Athera turned her head back around. The blue dragon descended and landed in plaza's courtyard. I was seated in Emrys's saddle and Ren stood on Emrys's back, proud and ready.  
"Sorry, but you're not going to become Fire Lord today," he said and jumped off Emrys. "I am."  
Athera laughed coldly. "You're hilarious."  
I stood beside Ren, ready for an attack. "And you're going down."  
The fire sage motioned to crown Athera, but she raised her hand, signaling him to stop.  
"Wait. You want to be Fire Lord Fine. Let's settle this. Just you and me, brother. The showdown that was always meant to be. Agni Kai!" she hissed, her lips curling.  
Ren was quiet for a moment before nodding his head once. "You're on."  
I turned to Ren, surprised as Athera's lips continued to curl into a sinister smile.  
"What are you doing? She's playing you. She knows she can't take us both so she is trying to separate us," I snapped at him, annoyed.  
Ren waved his hand at me, never taking his eyes off his sister. "I know. But I can take her this time."  
I balked. "But even you admitted to your Uncle that you would need help facing Athera. Think about this. Think about Odette."  
I knew that would make him reconsider things. Surprisingly though he didn't budge even an inch.  
"I am thinking about her. But there's something off about Athera, I can't explain it but she's slipping. And this way, no one else has to get hurt."  
Yeah right…

Ren:

I kneeled on the right end of the arena, Athera kneeling on the left end. After a moment of ceremonial silence, I rose and turned around, seeing Athera rise as well. She smirked at me nastily before turning and removing the Fire Lord robes.  
"I'm sorry it has to end this way, brother," she sighed dramatically.  
I held her gaze in my stance, feeling eerily calm. "No, you're not."  
Athera smiled and assumed a more awkward stance. She then spun and thrust her palm out, shooting a blast of blue flame at me. I brought my hands up, jumped forward, and brought my arms down in front of me, bending two waves of flame in each hand that came together and shot forward. The blue and orange flames collided into a wall of fire. As the flames dissipated, Athera leaped forward on a jet of fire and kicked forward, shooting a blast of fire. She performed three spinning kicks, sending out a wave of fire towards me each time.

Odette:

In the field of stone pillars, I landed on top of one, then leaped away just before blocking and being pushed back by a blast of fire from Mordred.  
He followed up his attack with a stream of fire from a downward kick. I landed on a rock and deflected the attack. I lifted a small boulder from the rock and kicked it at Mordred. He dodged the attack and countered by shooting a blast of fire with a kick. I leaped to the top of another rock to avoid the fire, and then leaped to the side of a nearby waterfall. Mordred landed on the rock I had leaped to and kicked another fire blast at me.  
I used my water bending to re-direct the waterfall at Mordred, extinguishing the fire blast and causing Mordred to jump away. Mordred flew toward me and shot a wide burst of flame at me, but I jumped away to the top of the waterfall. Mordred rocketed up after me, flipped forward, and shot a fire blast from both feet. I jumped down the other side of the rocky slope to evade the flames.  
As Mordred flew over, I landed on a boulder and lifted it into the air as he jumped away again, stopping him for just a moment before he continued to chase after me and shoot a stream of fire at me from his fist. I spun my body around, creating a small tornado around myself that deflected the fire, and then landed on the side of a rock pillar. I slid around to the other side of it as Mordred landed on a rock and shot another stream of fire. I leaped from the side of the pillar to the side of another. I used my airbending to boost myself back at the first pillar and kicked the entire top half of the stone pillar at Mordred. However, Mordred flew around to the other side and shot a concentrated ball of fire, catching me by surprise.  
I raised my hand and blocked the attack, the fire flowing past my body. I pushed back and hit the side of one of the rocks, grunting in pain and falling down to a ledge. My dark brown hair came undone from its knot, flowing loose and free ad I blew lightly in the light wind.  
Mordred flew at me and landed nearby on the same ledge. I picked myself up and flattened my back and arms against the rock before pulling away from it and using earthbending to create stone armor around my body. Mordred thrust both fists at me and shot a strong stream of flame, walking toward me and pushed me around the ledge with the attack. Mordred stopped and swung his arm at me to hit me with a fire blast, but I leaped away, shedding the stone armor.  
I flipped backwards in mid air and shot a blast of wind at Mordred. Mordred jumped to the side to avoid it, and in mid air began to charge lightning. As he landed on top of a rock, Mordred shot the lighting at me.  
I clung to the side of a rock, looking on with fear, but before the lightning hit, I swung my arm around to the side, creating a tornado around my body. I evaded the lightning and flew around to the top of the rock. Mordred fired another lightning bolt at me, but missed. Mordred chased after me and continued to shoot lightning. I lifted the top of a rock into the air to shield myself then dodged the next bolt. I jumped to a rock and rolled forward just as Mordred fire one more lightning bolt at me.  
With not time to dodge, I lifted my finger to the lightning and absorbed it, grimacing in pain. I let the lightning flow through my body and to my other hand like Ren had showed me. I pointed at Mordred, who stared back with fear. However, I hesitated, and instead of re-directing the lightning at Mordred, I pointed into the sky and lets the lightning shoot out harmlessly. I fell to the ground, exhausted from the strain as blood dribbled down the side of my cheek where I had been cut by a rock.  
Mordred smiled, spun around, and kicked a blast of fire at me.  
I quickly raised a stone wall in front of me to block the attack, but the fire blast through. I was blown off the rock and plummeted down to the shallow water below. My eyes snapped open and I realized what was happening.  
I tilted myself upright and frantically waved my arms upward. Just as I was about to hit the water, I managed to bend the water up so that it caught me and softened the impact though it still hurt. A large wave was created as the water fell down, and I was carried with it. I stood up and looked upward to see Mordred rocketing down at me.

Ren:

Enormous blue and orange flames were flung in the right side of the city. All that could be heard was the sound of explosive blasts of fire.  
Within the capital, one building was on fire. As a blue fire blast shot past me, another caught on fire.  
I punched forwards, releasing a powerful stream of fire. It collided with a stream of blue fire from Athera, and both attacks pushed against each other for a moment before slipping to one side. I continued my blast of fire while keeping enormous blue flames on my other side at bay, slowly sliding backward. My foot began to slide back from the force but I pivoted to strengthen my stance and keep myself steady.  
Both Athera and I stopped our attacks. Athera looked back at the plaza behind her, which had caught on fire from my attack.  
She turned back to me, surprised by my force. Angry and scared, she charged forward and leaped upward on a blast of fire, which she swung down at me. Just before the attack hit, I spun my body in a circle and thrust my palms out to the sides, creating a wall of flame that split the blue fire in half.  
The flames died down to reveal Athera, crouching on the ground. Even from this distance, I could see she was scared and panting heavily.  
She grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes in determination.  
In that moment, I pictured Odette and realized how much she meant to me. She was the reason I was here, the reason I was fighting for. I was doing this for her, to keep her safe.  
With new strength and determination, a white hot fire filled me and I opened my left fist. I punched forward with my other fist, and two immense fireballs were launched at Athera, spiraling and intertwining to create one massive fireball.  
Athera's eyes widened with fear and were tinted orange from the approaching blast. She dodged to the right on a jet of blue fire, just narrowly avoiding the fireball.  
She thrust herself forward while in the air, rocketing over the ground on jets of fire from her hands and feet. She punched forward twice, launching two huge blue fire blasts. I placed my hands near the ground and shot a blast of fire, thrusting myself into the air and avoiding one of Athera's attacks. I spun around in mid air and swung my heel downward, which created an arc of flame that blocked the second fire blast. As I fell back down, I swung my arms down, creating a blast of fire that destroyed a third blue blast of fire.  
I crouched, my arms extended forward and blue and orange flames surrounding me. Athera flew forward over the ground. She banked to the right, avoiding my last fire blast. She shot a blast of fire at me and began to circle me, followed behind by an enormous trail of blue fire left from the streams of fire propelling her. I defended myself with ease by creating a large sphere of fire around me. I then tried to attack Athera with blasts of fire as she circled me, but she was too fast. I stopped shooting fire blasts at Athera, crouched on the ground, and performed several spinning sweep kicks, creating a powerful ring of fire that expanded outward.  
Athera flew forward.  
She tried to stop herself and attempted to block my attack with a shield of blue fire, but she was too late and it connected.  
Athera fell forward and rolled across the ground due to her own momentum, gasping in pain. She picked herself up, breathing heavily and hunched over. Her hair had come undone, and she stared at me with anger and contempt, baring her teeth.  
"No lightning, today? What's the matter? Afraid I'll re-direct it?" I taunted. As I spoke, I entered a stance and thrust my palm forward to emphasize my words.  
Kole ran into the arena some distance behind me.  
Go back you idiot…  
"Oh, I'LL SHOW YOU LIGHTNING!" I half growled had screeched, her face crazed as spit flew from her soft lips.  
Athera proceeded to wave her fingertips around in arcs to generate the lightning, but her motions were far more dramatic and irregular than usual.  
Bring it on, Athera.  
I breathed in and out deeply as I entered my stance and extended my palms out to receive the lightning. The scenery flickered as Athera's lightning charges. As she finished her motions and poised herself, she glanced to her left and focused on Kole.  
Still poised to strike like a venomous snake, she smirked briefly and then extended her arm and finger tip to the left of me, releasing the lighting right at Kole.  
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the lightning shot from Athera's finger. An expression of shock spread over my face as I turned to my right. I ran in the same movement, trying to get in between Kole and the lightning as it shot from Athera. I glanced at Kole's face and saw the horror in his eyes as they reflected the approaching lightning.  
At the last second, I leaped between him and the lightning.  
"No!" I yelled furiously.  
I extended my finger out and absorbed the lightning mid leap. There was a blinding flash of light before a fiery, intense pain consumed me. In mid air, I absorbed the lightning coming from Athera, electricity surrounding the area. I hit the ground, letting the lightning escape from my other arm. The enormous bolt of redirected lightning erupted into the sky above the Fire Nation capitol, lighting up the entire crater it was in.  
I laid on the ground, twitching as electricity surged through my body.  
It was the worst pain I had ever felt. I felt intensely hot and cold, my muscles locked into place, my heart hammered, fire corased through every inch of me and I felt as if I were literally going to explode.  
I groaned as I rolled onto my back, holding my chest where the pain was most intense.  
Kole, frightened, began to run towards ,e.  
"Ren!"  
I couldn't move to acknowledge him. All I could do was grimace in pain. The clothing around my chest had been burned away by the lightning, and a scar had been left on my skin.  
Kole was still running toward me, but he was stopped by another lightning bolt that struck the ground between us.  
I turned my head slightly to see Athera, hunched over and swaying from side to side. She began to laugh maniacally, and then she rushed forward.  
I tried to fight off the pain but it became so intense it was all I could do to not fall into an unconscious state. I was dying slowly and I knew that. The thought of never seeing my precious, wonderful Odette again was even more painful than the fire raging through me and I hated myself for being so weak.  
The last thought I had before the pain clouded over everything was…'I'm sorry Odette. I love you'….

Odette:

Mordred flew downward.  
I was suddenly filled with an intense pain so horrible I almost cried out. Something was wrong…something was very very wrong.  
Ren…  
I managed to snap myself out of the pain though as Mordred straightened the angle of his flight and rocketed over the water below, leaving behind a wake.  
Scared and confused and terrified for Ren, whatever was happening to him, I turned away and began swinging my arms in circles as I used waterbending to propel myself over the water and towards the shore.  
I reached the shore and stumbled forward and fell, with Mordred closing in behind me. Just as Mordred reached me, I swung my arms around and earthbended a small, thick sphere of rocks around myself. Mordred hovered just over me. He laughed as I listened from within the cramped space, frightened and bracing myself.  
"You're weak! Just like the rest of your people. They did not deserve to exist in this world, in my world. Prepare to join them. Prepare to die!"  
I listened as Mordred approached my rock ball. He lifted both arms up and leaned back before smashing both fists into the ball, releasing a powerful blast of fire on impact.  
Inside the rock ball, I closed my eyes as small pebbles fell around me and the stone cocoon shook, trying to keep it intact. Orange light can be seen between the individual rocks. The fire of his attack blasted downward and then rose up in a bright orange cloud.  
I heard Mordred jumped several feet back before he landed and charged forward.  
This was only the beginning…


	21. Chapter 21: Avatar Odette

Odette:

Mordred sent curved fire blasts towards it with his right and then left hand. He sent a straight fire blast towards the rock ball I was safely concealed in.  
I began perspiring inside the ball as I struggled to hold it together. Tiny rock pieces fell on impact with Mordred's blasts and I knew I wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer. I cringed as the rock ball shook and trembled violently.  
"Come on out Avatar, you can't hide in there forever!"  
Help me…

Alana:

A lone firebender continued to send torrents of flame towards the ground from the airships. Some airships I sabotaged earlier were smoking and steadily descending.  
I was running along an intact airship.  
I grabbed Elise's hand as she ran with all her might behind me. Material from the ship's envelope flew around us in tiny red pieces as we charged forward.  
"Elise, metalbend the rudder so it's jammed in the turning position. The ship will spiral and slam into the others," I ordered hurriedly, my mind going into robot mode.  
Kill your enemies. Keep Elise safe.  
Elise nodded. "Got it."  
She placed her hands on my shoulders to move me out of the way. She proceeded to spit in both hands and let out a battle cry as she slammed her hands on the rudder, pulling the metal sheets back steadily. The rudder slowly turned into a perpendicular position. Cut to inside the cabin as the elite firebenders are thrown against the walls of the cabin since the airship changes course. The airship slowly turned and hit the neighboring ship. The one Elise and I were on tore through the neighboring airship as the roof of the airship passed by.  
Elise and I staggered and then balanced ourselves from the impact.  
I turned to her, surprised and joyful. "Have I ever mentioned how sweet it is that you invented metalbending?"  
She shrugged. "You could stand to mention it more."  
Another airship shot flames towards the ground. The flames dissipated as the sabotaged airship slammed into it.  
I looked up to the roof of the airship as a trapdoor opened to reveal an elite firebender. Elise and I noticed the intrusion at the same time and sprang into action.  
I grabbed Elise's arms as we ran off, narrowly missing a strong fire blast. The long and unwavering blast changed angles as Elise and I struggled to get out of the path of fire.  
I aimed for an area just below the airship's envelope as Elise and I jumped off. I unsheathed my sword as I did so. The sword dug into the airship's envelope and sparked due to friction, slowing our descent somewhat. I looked at my sword with fear and Elise screamed before I looked down, realizing we were nearing the end of the envelope.  
The sword didn't make contact with the envelope and both of us were thrown off the ship's surface. I lost my hold on the sword. I looked at the bottom of a wrench-shaped platform as I landed on the extension beam and my leg snapped to the side and a loud crack sounded as pain fired up and down the limb. I let out a sharp cry of pain as Elise fell through the U-shaped portion of the platform. I was still holding on to her as Elise slowly slipped down.  
I glanced down at my left leg to see it bent at an awkward angle - the sight almost made me lose my stomach. My sword was punctured vertically into the balance beam near my legs.  
I grimaced.  
"My leg!" I looked through the U-shaped opening, shoving past the pain. "Hang on Elise!"  
She nodded, frightened. "Aye aye, Captain."  
I looked over at a neighboring platform as an elite firebender attached to a safety harness came into view. I turned my head to find another firebender taking position on the other side. Perspiring, my head shifted from the right to the left as the firebender got into a stance. Thinking fast, I reached into my boomerang holder.  
As he started to firebend, I unsheathed my boomerang. The firebender on the right of me fell when I struck him with my boomerang. I used my uninjured leg to kick up the hilt of my sword, grabbing. I hurtled my sword and cuts the platform the remaining firebender was standing on. The harness prevented him from falling to his death.  
I looked down to a space beneath the airship as my beloved sword fell away.  
"Bye Space Sword," I sighed sadly.  
I looked at the corridor leading to the platform we were on as a group of firebenders ran in and positioned themselves into a stance.  
Elise's hand slipped out of my grip and I grabbed on to her fingers with my digits at the last moment, struggling to hold on to her.  
"I don't think Boomerang is coming back, Elise," I grunted, losing hope. Elise teared up and she nodded. "It looks like this is the end."  
I turned back to the corridor as the firebenders suddenly ran off as another airship headed towards us at high speed. The other airship slammed into the sabotaged airship and scraped through the bottom.  
I let go off Elise and we landed on the other ship's roof with some debris. I winced from the pain as I landed on my injured leg. I fell down, grabbing my leg in agony.  
"How did that happen? Did Boomerang come back?" Elise asked, completely confused.  
I looking up and started smiling. "No, Tarren did."  
I stared at a smiling Tarren as he hung from a harness near the rudder of the airship, grinning at me goofily.

Odette:

Mordred sent a curved fireball with his left hand, a straight blast and then two curved blasts towards the ball with both hands. The impact lifted the rock ball off the ground. Another fire blast hit the ball, sending it back. Mordred flew up with his firebending rocket and headed towards the ball, firebending along the way. He landed and sends a torrent of flames at the ball with a burning intensity so hot I felt like I was baking inside the rocks.  
I cringed inside the ball, terrified. In the ball, I watched as the interior glowed and darkened rapidly. Cut to the surface of the ball as it glows red hot from the flames. As it took a few more vicious hits, the rocks began to fall apart, various parts of it crumbling away, revealing me as I formed a small shield of air around me.  
I was moved back by the impact and my back made contact with a jutted edge of a rock wall behind him, hitting my scar right on the mark. As I landed against it, my world flashed to white and my body was in black.  
I saw an image of myself being shot with lightning. I looked at the past Avatars in The Avatar State as the line of Avatars came back. Avatar Kyoshi opened her glowing eyes. Previous Avatars opened their glowing eyes as well. Finally Avatar Koren opened his eyes. Inside my crystal shelter I remembered as I opened my eyes. I saw the line again before I opened my eyes underwater in a vast and stormy ocean. I saw the Avatar Spirit in my mind. It's arrows glowed with bright intensity and I reached out to touch it, feeling it's power flow into me.  
"Come on out little girl, you're about to be-"  
My glowing arm stuck out from the pile and grabbed Mordred's beard to his astonishment. Under the pile of rocks I looked up menacingly with glowing eyes and tattoos. I jumped out and stared hard at Mordred. The Phoenix King firebended his arm in an arc toward me. I released my hold on his beard and swiped him arm, his a large burst of flame directed to the air.  
Mordred looked up at his arm in dismay. I made several gestures around my head and thrust my palms out, airbending.  
Mordred was thrown back violently by the air. He rolled and collided against the ground like a rag doll. His back collided against a stone pillar and he grimaced in pain, landing in a crouch behind a mist of smoke. As the smoke cleared, he looked up and I descended onto Mordred with a sphere of air circling around me.  
I firebended with a roar through my mouth, putting all my rage and fury into the motion. I firebended out of my limbs as well, looking like a star. The sphere moved up towards the sky, moving near the shore as the five streams of fire looped about. Mordred moaned and struggled against the stinging air pressure as the pillars crumbled from the wind.  
The fire streams circled and tighten around the ball. At the same time, pieces of earth from the ground beneath me and remaining water from the ocean floor - which had mostly been burned away by Mordred's fire - slowly made their way towards the sphere. The fire streams gathered and formed a revolving ring near the center outside of the sphere. The pieces of earth flew up.  
I clenched my fist and then tightened them further. The pieces of earth were bent into a smaller size and they flew towards the sphere. A wide circle of air revolved below me and water slowly bent above the air circle.  
I bended the earth into a North-West position around me, inside the sphere. The water got bent into a North-East position inside the sphere as well. The various elements continued to orbit around me as I did so.  
Mordred looked from behind his arms as his eyes widened in shock. Angrier than I had ever been before, I glared down at him inside my lethal sphere of elements.

Irah:

In an empty courtyard in Eralith, two columns of fire shot upwards from behind some houses. The ground shook and a sinkhole formed. Bumi jumped out from the hole and looked around and made a "Whoa" noise.  
Five Fire Nation tanks rolled in and one started to firebend from the opening. Bumi raised a protective wall of earth. The wall came down and Bumi earthbended several chunks of earth from the ground and kicked them towards the tanks. A tank opened to firebend at Bumi but got quickly cut off by a chunk of rock that slammed against the opening.  
The tanks as the neighboring tank started to firebend but suffered the same fate. Bumi turned and made several earthbending movements with his arms and he raised his arms up. A column of earth rose from beneath a tank, throwing it up. Two more columns rose up and the tanks flew.  
I looked around to see a tank that had been turned turtle and more tanks flew by and they got stacked on top of each other. The base opening of the topmost tank opened to reveal a shaky Fire Nation soldier who moaned with discomfort. The other soldiers also came out of the tanks, not feeling well either.  
I stood in front of the Earth King's palace. The Earth Kingdom symbol had been covered with a Fire Nation banner. A wave of water and a column of fire burst out from some houses behind me. I stuck out two fingers and firebended at the banner.  
The Fire Nation banner caught fire and I smiled widely as the banner burned away to reveal the Earth Kingdom symbol once again.

Odette:

My sphere dropped down towards Mordred.  
He got hit by the sphere and got carried by it for a short distance before I airbended him away, throwing him upwards to the air. My sphere swiftly flew in towards him as he groaned in pain and looked ahead.  
As I caught up to him, Mordred firebended with his feet away from the sphere. His stream of fire moved away from the sphere and my sphere suddenly moved up towards the sky.  
I made gestures with my arms and a piece of earth inside my sphere got broken apart into small earth bullets.  
Furious, I sent the earth bullets towards the rock pillars, creating a huge plume of smoke. A small stream of fire flew away from the top of the smoke. Raging more than ever, I ran forward within my sphere towards my enemy.

Kole:

In the ceremonial plaza in the Fire Nation, I stared in horror at Ren lying on the floor with some small flames burning the ground around him.  
Across the courtyard, I saw Ren shakily attempt to get up, but quickly slump back down, too weak to get up. I gasped as I saw that he was alive. In that moment, I forgot Athera. All I knew was Ren. He was alive, and I just had to help!  
Once again, I bent a water glove around my hand and ran toward Ren, desperately wanting to repay him for what he had done for me. Just when I thought I would make it to his side, Athera again attacked me, laughing maniacally with each second. My heart fell as I realized that I wouldn't be able to help my friend.  
What if...what if he died because of me?  
The fire cleared to reveal Athera laughing hysterically and jumping around, charging up with lightning.  
I darted off quickly, taking cover.  
Ren attempted to get up again and stretched his arms out helplessly as I ran around the perimeter of the plaza, narrowly missing Athera's lighting. I somersaulted away from the impact and turned back as Athera firebended herself onto the roof. She charged up with lightning.  
I looked up as I got off the ground and turned away as Athera made wide arcs of lightning around her.  
"I'd really rather our family physician look after little RenRen if you don't mind!" she taunted from the rooftop.  
She sent the powerful bolt of lightning out and I threw a stream of water up to block the lightning. Athera as sent two blasts of fire with her hands.  
I ran and hid behind a pillar, narrowly missing Athera's attacks again.  
I'm sorry, Ren.  
I was determined to stop Athera, to do something, anything to stop her attacks. I would do whatever it took to put an end to the relentless firebender. But now I just needed to duck and dodge, to stay alive, until the opportune moment.  
Another fire blast hit the pillar and I cringed with my hands over my head. I opened my eyes and stood up. The ground in front of me was slightly on fire. Cautious, I peered from behind the pillar.  
"RenRen you don't look so good!" Athera said with a mocking tone.  
I looked up to the roof to see Athera as she charged up with lightning and sent out a bolt. At the end of the corridor, I ran to hide behind another pillar as the lightning made contact with the previous pillar. Startled, I stared at the destroyed pillar.  
With a look of determination, I turned away and stretched my arms out. I bended a stream of water from a nearby fountain towards the roof.  
Athera flew in behind me and I ran off.  
I ran and bended a wave of water from the same fountain. Athera continued to levitate behind me closely with her firebending jets as I surfed along water waves.  
A fire blast evaporated the water but I still had enough to continue surfing. Athera dropped to the ground in a roll. She firebended wildly towards me as I surfed away in time.  
I spotted some drains inside the plaza and I stumbled into it. I looked down at the drain while the wall of fire dissipated behind me.  
There was flowing water inside the drain. I looked up, filled with new strength at the sight of the rich water source. I spotted a metal chain looped around a handle and stood up.  
Athera's hand grabbed a pillar as I ran from behind a pillar with chain in my hands.  
"There you are, filthy peasant!" Athera snarled, haggard and angry.  
I stood at the end of the drain, standing stationary and looking at Athera as we walked towards me. I narrowed my eyes with determination, Athera's narrowing with hate.  
I sent streams of water towards Athera who dodged them and rolled across the drain. I walked closer to her while she attempts to stand up. Athera thrust her fingers out as I moved backwards.  
I bended water from the drain, freezing our movements. I stared at a surprised Athera as her eyes darted around but she was unable to move.  
Athera's fingers were inches away from my face. Calming myself, I exhaled and the ice around my melted into water as I proceeds to chain Athera's arm. I floated through the water, chaining Athera's remaining arm. She glared, angry, as her head was brought down. I brought Athera to her knees as I floated behind her. My hands wrapped the chains her body and then around the drain gratings. When I was done, I waterbends the water back to the drain.  
The water flowed away and both of us coughed and gasped for air. I grabbed the chains and tightened them around an annoyed Athera, making sure she wouldn't be able to escape. I tightened them for one last time before running off.  
Ren moaned with pain as I kneeled at his side.  
I turned him over so the lightning wound was facing me. Parts of his robe around the wound site got burnt off and the usually smooth skin was not burned and ruined. I brought up a water gloved hand and pressed it on the wound and it spread out glowing blue.  
Ren grimaced and moaned again for a moment more before he breathed out and relaxed. He opened his eyes and I smiled with relief as I looked at Ren.  
He smiled slightly and whispered weakly. "Thank you, Kole."  
I teared up, suddenly realizing what he had done for me…for all of us. "I think I'm the one who should be thanking you."  
In that moment, I realized it was time for me to let go of Odette. I was never meant to be hers or she mine. It was always destined to be Ren and Odette. And I was okay with that.  
I helped him sit up.  
Suddenly, an angry Athera exhaled uncontrollably, rapidly, and firebended out from her mouth. She struggled and continued to firebend at the drain, crazed and wild looking.  
Ren and I looked at her as she landed on her back. Her face practically broke my heard as she broke down into tears.  
In shock and sickened at the sight of the once powerful bender, I had to look away. I looked up at Ren as a distraction who looked at his sister expressionlessly and I could image what was running through his mind as he saw her.  
At the drain, Athera continued to whimper and flail around.

Odette:

Mordred flew away from me, dodging the rock pillars.  
I flew closer and brought my arms together and two rock pillars closed together. Mordred stopped in front of the pillars and changed direction. I circled my arms around my body as he flew away but got hit by a blast of water. The water flowed off some of the pillars, revealing Mordred as he pressed his back against the pillar, looking up.  
I broke the top part of the pillar, descending towards him as he turned back and firebended. He flew away with his feet and his arm extended out towards me. As he moved off, my sphere crashed into the ground and I brought more chunks of earth with me. Mordred who flew behind a pillar, landed, and firebended with his feet. I brought my arms together and brought another two pillars together to block his attack. I proceeded to earthbend the pillars into an 'X' shape.  
Mordred flew off and I turned in my sphere and stopped in a stance with my arms up. Five streams of fire came out from the revolving circle of fire, chasing a flying Mordred who dodged them. Mordred stopped and realized a stream of fire coming up from behind him and he flew off as the fire stream hit a pillar that he just flew past. Mordred landed perpendicular to a pillar with his feet and extended his arms out as he sent three streams of fire towards me.  
I extended my arms out and three streams of water and a gust of air came out from my sphere. The water and air intercepted the flames, dissipating them. I then sent a strong gust of air that hit Mordred and he got flung to a pillar. The pillar eroded away rapidly and I flew by and the top part of the pillar collapsed.  
I chased Mordred as I knocked down a pillar. I gained up on Mordred and knocked down another pillar. Mordred changed direction and I followed, knocking another pillar again. He looked back fearfully at a plume of smoke as my sphere came through it.  
Mordred gasped and desperately tried to get out of the way. My arms moved in a circular motion in front of my body. Clenching my jaw with anger, I closed my fist. Flames came out of Mordred's foot as a loop of water extinguishes it and curled around his calf and crept up to his body, sliding up his torso and creeping up to his head. Mordred was visibly terrified as he got pulled back by the water.  
I waterbended the loop around and threw Mordred. He landed on his back forcefully with the water against the top of a pillar and the water flowed off. My sphere descended towards him and I extended my arms out and clenched them.  
At Mordred's feet, mounds of earth encased them. I stared at his face as he looked at his hand being encased in earth, his remaining hand quickly closed up as well. Mordred looked up in fear.  
My voice was mixed together with the previous Avatars before me. "Fire Lord Mordred, you and your forefathers have devastated the balance of this world, and now you shall pay the ultimate price."  
I made a weaving motion across my body and a stream of fire interlaced with water, air and rocks extend out like a snake. I moved my arms in a slashing motion and the tip of elemental stream rapidly descended. Mordred widened his eyes in fear and he closed them.  
Don't!  
A voice…my voice…rose above the caterwauls of all the other Avatars screaming inside my head.  
This isn't who you are…  
Immediately, my hand tattoos stopped glowing and the elemental stream fell apart. Water dropped onto Mordred's face and he looked up, surprised. I dropped my arms and shook my head as my tattoos and eyes ceased glowing.  
I lowered my sphere of air onto the ground. The mounds of earth holding Mordred's limbs together broke apart as he looked on dumbfounded. He moaned and struggled to sit up. He got up into a kneeling position while I touched the floor, steadying myself as I came to terms with what I had almost done.  
Mordred kneeled behind me.  
"No... I'm not going to end it like this," I told myself sternly.  
"Even with all the power in the world," Mordred said and looked on slyly. "You are still weak." proceeds  
He began to move forward.  
Through the earth, I felt Mordred's hand and the movement seemed to travel up my body towards his brain. Reacting instantly, I stuck out my leg behind me and earthbended a mini rock wall that directed Mordred's hand upwards so the flames didn't hit me.  
I ran forward and trapped Mordred's hand within the rock wall. He started to firebend with his free hand but I brought up my arms and trapped that hand in a rocky mound as well. I stepped in front of Mordred and lowered the mounds to bring Mordred to his knees. He tried to firebend out of his mouth but I sent out a gust of air to dissipate the flames and my right hand touched Mordred's forehead while my left hand touched his chest.  
Stunned, he became immobilized immediately under my touch.  
The lion turtle's lesson flashed through my mind as I made my critical decision. I closed my eyes and concentrated, reflecting over my confrontation with the lion turtle.  
"In the era before the Avatar, we bend not the elements, but the energy within ourselves."  
He placed a claw on my forehead and chest and my eyes widened with realization as a green light illuminated the world around me.  
I looked into the lion turtle's eye as the green light shadowed it. There was a bright glowing light around the lion turtle's head and my body.  
In the present day, I was still deep in concentration. I lifted my head and white-blue light streamed out from my eyes and mouth, the light seeming to stream on endlessly. Mordred's eyes had an orange light streaming out of them and his mouth. The two streams of each color mingled together the pillar rumbled and shook. White-blue light covered my head and traveled down my entire body. Orange light traveled down from Mordred's head towards his entire body as well. I was amazed by the intensity of the light. Half the sky was completely filled with white-blue light while the other half is filled with orange light.  
The light from Mordred traveled up my body now.  
"To bend another's energy, your own spirit must be unbendable, or you will be corrupted and destroyed."  
I could feel that I was losing. Even though I was able to be back in the Avatar state once more, this was something completely different. I knew taking away someone's bending was going to be the hardest thing I would ever have to do, but I didn't think it would be this impossible.  
I could feel the strong evil inside of Mordred, how it had built up in his chi, and was now bending me to his will. Darkness was taking me, and the world around me was fading away faster than I expected. I knew if I didn't fight back, everything that I and my friends fought for will have been for nothing, but it was too strong. I knew I had a good soul and even a loveable heart, and I remembered Ren telling me once how much he loved me, how proud he was of me, and how much he wished he could be better, more like me.  
If only he could see him now...he would be disgusted at me right now.  
I wanted to feel the softness of his lips once more. But no matter what, I promised myself that I would not let him live in a world where Mordred would kill every last bender...just like he did with Monk Athos and the other Air Nomads.  
It was in that instant I realized I might not ever be able to see Ren again. I knew I would take an arrow for him, but the fear was so strong in me that it was blinding me from doing my duty...not just as the Avatar but as a friend to Ren.  
In that moment something inside of me snapped, I no longer cared if I lived or died, just as long as Ren and everyone else could live to see the comet fly by as if nothing had happened. I then made a promise to myself and Falcon. "If I live through this, and see Ren, I will spend the rest of my life showing him just how much he meant to me."  
That was when I looked down at Mordred, and with everything that was good inside of me, I fought back. I could feel my heart beating fast, sweat pouring down on my body, and as tired as I was, my heart screamed "No!" It was like fighting against a tidal wave, gasping for air, but it kept knocking you down. I saw a small light before being consumed by Mordred's evil.  
I screamed, "Ren!" and that was when my chi turned on Mordred. I could see the blue turning on Mordred's body, and when there was no more energy bending left, I let go. Mordred fell instantly and I staggered to stay on my feet.  
I was sucking in air, as if I hadn't been breathing the entire time. I could feel the sweat stinging on my face where new cuts had been formed. While barely able to stand on his two feet, Mordred tried to get up, but failed miserably as he fell back hard on the ground.  
"What...what did you do to me?"  
I took a deep breath and said, "I took away your fire bending. You can't use it to hurt or harm anyone else ever again."  
I knew Mordred wouldn't be able to get up, and with what little strength I myself had, I needed to put out the fires all around me. I inhaled and exhaled, and entered into the Avatar state...as a fully realized Avatar.  
Standing on a pillar, I turned towards the burning forest and raised my arms out. Mordred turned towards me furiously as I moved my arms up towards the sky. Water flooded the whole area of the forest, extinguishing the fires. Some flaming airships were cooled as the waves extinguished the embers. The burning trees were covered from top to toe and the fire dissipated. The last of the water flooded the area, extinguishing the remaining flames on the pillars and wherever else. I moved my arms and the water evaporated.  
Fang ran over from somewhere and skidded to a halt beside me, wagging his tail happily. I smiled and patted his head weakly, exhausted.  
Both of us looked out at the calm forest.  
I did it…  
In that instant, I fell to my knees, still gasping for air, and as I placed my hands on the rocks, I could see my hands bleeding. As I looked at myself more closely I could see burn marks all over myself, and deep enough cuts that would end up becoming a scars. I wasn't aware of a fire nation blimp approaching, nor did I care.  
I did what he needed to do, and now if they wanted to kill me, then so be it.

Alana:

As the comet passed by, we left our airship wedged on top of the rock pillars. I could see Odette's slumped over form as she lied unmoving in the dirt.  
At first I though the worst and was filled with dread, but relief washed through me as she stirred when she heard us approach and sat up, looking over her shoulder. When she recognized us, she staggered unsteadily to her feet and watched as Tarren and Elise supported me as we walk past the platform onto the pillar.  
"You did it! You should have seen yourself, it was amazing!" I cried, still awed by the awesome sight I had witnessed. I lifted my arms from both my companion's shoulders and stand on one leg, lifting my bandaged leg off the ground. I proceeded to make several punching gestures. "You were all like, "pshoom, pfoom, pfoom, phish, whoom", and then the Fire Lord was all like, "eugh, eh, eh, eh, eugh, aye"."  
I pretended to choke my self.  
I took in Odette and started. She looked like she'd been trampled by a heard of angry rhinos but her pretty grey eyes sparkled with triumph. Her face was covered with blood and dirt and she had bruises dotting areas on her usually flawless skin. Her long, dark brown hair was matted and muddy and her clothes were torn and ragged. Her cheeks and forehead had a few scratches and some were still bleeding, trickling little red tracks down her face.  
"You look terrible," I commented as she wiped some blood from a cut on her lip.  
Tarren carefully inspected Mordred who was slumped against a rock.  
He pointed to him, wincing slightly. "So, did you…you know…finish the job?"  
Mordred stirred angrily. "I'm still alive."  
Tarren drew his self back from the ex-Fire Lord in shock and looked at Odette, his green eyes large as moons.  
I looked to Odette in surprise, completely confused.  
She shrugged. "I learned there was another way to defeat him and restore balance. I took his bending away."  
Elise and I widened our eyes with surprise.  
"Wow, who taught you that?" Elise stammered.  
Odette shrugged matter-of-factly. "A giant Lion Turtle."  
Elise crossed her arms and I walked off. "You have the craziest adventures when you disappear."  
So true.  
I limped my way to Mordred.  
I started mocking him, loving every minute of it. "Well, look at you buster. Now that your firebending is gone, I guess we should call you the "Loser Lord"."  
Mordred pulled his self up with the help from the rock behind him. "I am the Phoenix King!"  
He pointed his finger out warningly towards me but he dropped back to the floor, his eyes slightly dilated.  
"Oh sorry, didn't mean to offend you "Phoenix King of Getting His Butt Whupped."  
Tarren shook his head at the drooling Mordred. "Yeah, or how about "King of the Guys Who... Don't Win?"  
Mordred simply blinked, closed and opened his mouth. It seemed he had temporarily lost control of his body.  
Elise and I shook our heads.  
"Leave the nicknames to us honey," Elise said as he shoulder drooped.  
As the comet slowly flew off into the horizon and left Earth, the red sky faded to night.  
Odette turned toward me when it was gone, her shoulders slumping in exhaustion.  
She asked me one simple question.  
"Where is he?"

Ren:

In the Fire Nation capital the next day, I prepared for my coronation and awaited Odette's return eagerly.  
Some of the roofs of houses had been singed and destroyed last night during mine and Athera's Agni Kai.  
I was currently in my room, standing near the windows as the morning sunlight streamed in. I put on my outer robe. After nearly being barbequed to death, I'd ended up with a pretty wicked scar and a bandaged torso. The wound still hurt like no tomorrow and I moaned and struggled to put my arm through the robe's sleeve as pain lashed through me.  
I wondered how long it would take for this sucker to heal?  
"You need some help with that?" a familiar voice asked.  
My head shot up, surprised, and I turned to see none other than Naveen leaning against the doorway.  
Uh oh.  
She smiled slightly at my expression and walked towards me.  
"Naveen!" I greeted happily but watched her warily. "You're ok."  
I opened my arms out in a friendly hug.  
"They let you out of prison?" I asked surprised.  
Naveen walked behind me and lifted up my empty robe sleeve and I put my arm through gratefully.  
"My uncle pulled some strings," she explained and proceeded to fasten my robe. "And it doesn't hurt when the new Fire Lord is your best friend."  
She walked in front of me and punched my un-injured arm lightly, a small smile on her face.  
I balked. "So does this mean you don't hate me anymore?"  
She blushed. "I'm really sorry about the way I acted before. I can see why you love her so much."  
She looked to the side suddenly and I followed her gaze. My heart practically leapt out of my chest when I saw who it was.  
Odette!  
She was in the hallways outside of my room, talking with Alana as the water tribe warrior helped her along the way. My face broke out in the biggest, happiest smile I had ever smiled and it took everything I had not to run over and scoop her up in my arms.  
I suddenly realized that Naveen was staring up at me with an amused look on her face and I felt a twinge of guilt.  
"Naveen…I'm so, so sorry. For everything. I didn't me to-"  
"Agh. Don't worry about it okay," she smiled slight and then shot another glance toward Odette. "She's special. Don't screw this one up, dumb dumb."  
I smirked and walked away, leaving me smiling goofily after her.  
My attention returned to Odette as she waved Alana off her with a smile, making her way toward my room unsteadily. Naveen and her met at the doorway and my friend bowed to her formally. Odette blushed in embarrassment and shook her head, bringing her back up and explaining how that was unnecessary. Naveen rolled her eyes and shot me a look that seemed to say "good luck."  
Yeah…I was gonna need it.  
Naveen finally left and Odette turned to me. Seeing her again, it was like resurfacing, and I was finally able to breathe properly. She seemed to take a breath, her expression mirroring mine. She started to hobble forward unsteadily and I moved towards her, making the journey a little easier.  
She practically flung herself at me and even though it hurt like hell I wrapped her up in a huge bear hug. She flinched suddenly and I loosened my grip, pulling back slightly.  
She looked horrid. Her long brown hair had been singed a little in some places and her face had cuts and scrapes all over it. Her arms were bruised with big purple stains and she had a bandage wrapped around one of her ankles.  
"Are you alright?" I asked worriedly, brushing a strand of hair from her beautiful grey eyes.  
She shrugged with a small smile. "Nothing Kole can't fix."  
Her eyes darkened and I felt her fingers brush my own bandage. "Are you alright?"  
I nodded once, not really wanting to get into the details about that whole thing. I smiled again and leaned my forehead down until it touched hers. "I'm glad your back."  
She sighed and closed her eyes. "Me too."  
We leaned in for a kiss and parted a few seconds later, looking into each other's eyes happily.

Kole:

In the coronation plaza, a crowd has gathered in front of the coronation platform. The Duke was there, embracing Elise with Pipsqueak, Hippo and The Boulder looking on. Haru had reunited with his father and both were chattering happily. The swamp benders had been freed and my sister and I stopped to chat with them for a few moments. They parted as we said our goodbyes and walked past them and look around the crowd. Alana was using a crutch to support her broken leg as she hobbled through the crowd.  
"Dad!" she suddenly gasped.  
I spun around and spotted him, my heart leaping out of my chest. "Dad!"  
He was talking to Cato as he turned his head towards our voices. We both ran at him and grabbed him in a huge group hug.  
"I heard what you two did," he said, rubbing our heads as he looked to Alana. "I am the proudest father in the world."  
Alana smiled widely as he turned his attention to me.  
"And your mother would be proud too."  
I touches the necklace that had impossibly remained with me through our entire journey and I teared up a bit.  
A familiar Kyoshi figure came over to us next. It was Tarren back in his Kyoshi garb with four other warriors flanked behind him.  
Alana was ecstatic. "There's my favorite warriors. I have to admit, I kind of missed the face paint. How does it feel to be back in uniform again?"  
"It feels great!" a familiar voice said and I froze in shock as Kenna popped up from behind the four warriors.  
Alana was also shocked.  
She limped forward hurriedly and stood in front of Tarren protectively while pointing her crutch towards Kenna.  
"Careful Tarren! Kenna is pretending to be a Kyoshi Warrior again," she snapped.  
Tarren laughed and Alana relaxed slightly. "It's ok. She's one of us now."  
Alana pointed to Kenna speechlessly and pointed back to Tarren.  
"Yeah, the girls and I really bonded in prison. And after a few Chi blocking lessons, they said I could join their group," Kenna explained and she stood in between two warriors and placed her arms around their shoulders. "We're going to be best friends forever."  
Kenna pulled them closer to her as they looked on expressionlessly. She smiled widely and the two warriors smiled albeit hesitantly.  
"Hey Tarren," I said, walking over to them. I looked at Kenna and nodded a hello.  
"Hey there handsome," she said with a wink and I stammered, blushing. She grinned at me, her eyes bright and happy and I smiled back.  
Huh…she was actually pretty cute when she wasn't trying to kill you.

Odette:

We came to the end of a corridor inside the coronation building.  
Ren was in his new Fire Lord outfit walking towards me were I sat beside the door. I was dressed in a blue and grey dress that supposedly complimented my eyes. My hair flowed loose and free down my shoulders in chocolate brown waves. Around my neck, I was wearing a necklace similar to Monk Athos's, just a little smaller and more elegant.  
Ren stopped in front of the curtains and addressed me as I stood and adjusted his robes.  
"I can't believe a year ago my purpose in life was hunting you down, and now…"  
I smiled at him happily. "And now we're together?"  
"Yeah...we are together," he replied, lacing his finger through mine.  
"I can't believe a year ago I was still frozen in a block of ice. The world's so different now," I sighed, a little sad as I thought about my lost kin.  
Ren placed a finger under my chin and tilted my head up. "And it's gonna be even more different, when we build it together."  
I smiled and we kissed and separated as Ren parted the curtains and walked through them, his hand still curled around mine.  
We stood in front of the crowd in front of the coronation platform. They had been arranged into four groups: Swamp benders, earth benders, Water Tribe warriors and Fire Nation citizens. I turned to one of the Fire Sages as one of them sounded a gong three times.  
Ren let go of my hand and walked forward and they bowed in respect. He looked down at the cheering crowd and I felt pride swelling up in me.  
Ren raised his arm and moved aside as I walked towards him.  
"Please, the real hero is the Avatar."  
As I took my place beside him, I spotted The Duke and Elise who were sitting on Pipsqueak and Hippo's shoulders respectively as all four of them cheered wildly. I scanned the crowd and found Kole, Alana, Kodah and Tarren who were looking on at me with the biggest smiles. I winked at Kole and Alana, who I owed so much to. They truly were the greatest friends anyone could ever have. We'd started our journey together, and now were finally finishing it.  
Ren stepped forward, continuing his speech. "Today, this war is finally over."  
Haru, Tyro, Cash and The Mechanist smiled and the Fire Nation citizens behind them cheered.  
"This is a day not of celebration but of national memory. It's a day when we learn, and learn again, of the horror of purposeless war. It is a day for looking after your mates, cherishing your home, your neighborhood and family...It's a day for realizing how rare this wonderful country of ours is and how precious it is.  
"I promised my Uncle that I would restore the honor of the Fire Nation, and I will. The road ahead of us is challenging. A hundred years of fighting has left the world scarred and divided." Ren and I turned towards each other and exchanged a smile. "But with the Avatar's help, we can get it back on the right path, and begin a new era of love and peace."  
I bowed slightly to him and backed away as one of the Fire Sages holding the Fire Lord diadem in his hand walking forward. Ren kneeled down and I looked at the Fire Sage standing behind him.  
The Fire Sage inserted the diadem into his top knot. "All hail Fire Lord Ren!"  
The crowd cheered and Ren lifted his head up as the Fire Sage dismissed his self, keeping his head bowed as flowers rained down from somewhere above. Ren stood up and walked forward. He paused, turned, and gestured me to join him. I came over a split second later and we posed at the top of the steps. We looked at each other briefly before looking back at the crowd.  
"I have one more announcement to make!" Ren called out and I looked at him in surprise as did everyone else.  
He smiled cheekily and turned to me.  
"Marry me." He said, an impish grin on his face as the flowers fell off of his head.  
I rolled my eyes, knowing he couldn't possibly be serious. Ren had never been the marrying type of guy. "Did you become a priest all of the sudden while I was away?"  
"You never know," He answered coyly, grabbing my attention away from the cheering crowd. "I could have."  
I snorted and turned away from him, expertly avoiding his gaze.  
"Why would you want to marry me, anyway?" I answered in a semi-serious tone. "I thought I was just stupid and reckless."  
I threw his own words back at him playfully, cockily throwing a fist-full of flowers at him.  
"Oh, but you are a stupid." He leaned in closely to me, planting the smallest of kisses on my nose. "But you're my stupid, and my reckless, and I wouldn't have you any other way."  
He kissed me again, this time square on the lips.  
"You seriously want to marry me?" I asked, leaning against him for warmth.  
"Yes." He answered. "Right now, actually."  
I grinned and laughed. "Now I know you're crazy. How are we suppose to get married right now? We're in the middle of the square with a ton of people watching us right now! This was kind bad timing smart one."  
"Simple." He stated. He pulled me up beside him, holding me in his arms tightly. "I, Ren, son of Mordred and Elena, of sound mind and spirit, do take thee, Odette, daughter of so and so, to be my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health." He leaned in closely, rubbing his nose against mine. "Till death do us part."  
"Aww," the crowd cooed behind us an I blushed.  
"This is the part where you speak, you know." He whispered, and I hit him playfully.  
"Very well." I laughed. "I, Odette, daughter of Kieran and Malia, of sound mind and spirit, do take thee Ren, son of Mordred and Elena, to be my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health."  
I kissed him lightly on the lips, almost mockingly, before speaking the last line. "Till death do us part."  
"Tsk." He whispered, brushing a fallen flower out of my face. "You were suppose to wait until now to kiss me."  
"Oh darn." I whispered, leaning in closer. "I suppose I'll just have to do that again, won't I?"  
I leaned in, closing the gap between us, deepening a kiss that had already been started.  
"I guess we're married now." I spoke softly after the kiss ended, teasing him playfully as the whole thing was.

Ren:

I walked alone on the rocky path leading to the crater in the Fire Nation capital.  
Eventually, I came to the outer cordon of the prison tower and made my way in.  
I walked along the corridor inside the prison and paused outside a door for a second before pushing it in.  
The door opened to reveal a disheveled Mordred in rags leaning against the wall of his cell. I stared darkly at Mordred's face as his eyes glanced to the side at my shadow.  
"I should count myself lucky," he growled as I looked in. "The new Fire Lord has graced me with his presence in my lonely prison cell."  
"You should count yourself lucky that the Avatar spared your life," I snapped and he made a "Hmph" sound. "Banishing me was the best thing you could have done for my life. It put me on the right path; perhaps your time in here can do the same for you."  
"Why are you really here?" he said, nonchalant.  
"Because you are gong to tell me something." I kneeled down and pressed my face into the bars. "Where is my mother?"

Odette:

We returned to Eralith a few days later.  
Emrys took refuge outside Ira's tea shop, staying in the back and lounging about happily.  
Irah was wearing his tea shop outfit playing the sungi horn inside the shop with Emrys looking at him through the window.  
Ren was also in his tea shop outfit smiling and walking around as he handed out tea to customers. Elise was resting her feet on the table in her new Earth Kingdom outfit as she accepted the cup from him. I sat in front of the table manipulating a ball of air up and down as Fang tried to grab it. I was wearing my new dress from the coronation, finding it to be quite comfortable actually.  
Alana was sitting at the table with us, writing something with a calligraphy brush and Naveen and Tarren were playing a game of Pai Sho with Kole looking on. All of them were wearing Earth Kingdom outfits. Ren walked towards the game table and Kole picked up a tea cup from the tray.  
"Ren, stop moving!" Alana suddenly snapped and Kole, Naveen, Tarren and Ren looked towards her in surprise. "I'm trying to capture the moment. I wanted to do a painting, so we always remember the good times together."  
She stuck her tongue out comically as her brother walked over.  
"That's very thoughtful of you Alana," he said and he looked down and his expression changed into a deadpanned look. "Wait!"  
I leaned over slightly to see a crude drawing of a waterbending Kole with a tail sticking out of the back of his head. Elise looked like the drawing from her wanted poster and Ren has long spiky anime-like hair.  
"Why did you give me Fang's ears?" Kole asked, annoyed.  
"That's you wolf's tail!"  
Ren, Tarren and Naveen came over to check out her drawing. Tarren and Ren looked at the painting, un-amused.  
"At least you don't look like a boarcupine," Ren grumbled. He was drawn next to an angry Naveen. Further to the right, Alana was depicted thrusting her sword into the air behind Tarren. "My hair's not that spiky!"  
"I look like a man," Naveen sighed.  
Tarren was firebending with his free hand while his other hand was holding a fan. In the background, there was a drawing of Emrys with me seated on her head. Further to the right, there was a drawing of a big and tall Uncle clutching his large belly.  
Tarren frowned. "And why did you paint me firebending?"  
"I thought it looked more exciting that way," Alana said, shrugging.  
Fang jumped onto the table and growled as I looked at our group in amusement.  
"Oh, you think you can do a better job, Fang?" Alana snapped, getting defensive.  
Smiling and happier than I had ever been, I got up, wanting a little fresh air. Irah was already at the table while Elise was still walking towards it.  
"Hey," he said, pointing at the painting. "My belly's not that big anymore, I've really trimmed down."  
Elise raised her arms into the air. "Well, I think you all look perfect!"  
Everyone laughed as I walked out onto the back balcony, patting Emrys snout as I passed.  
Sighing, I looked out at a panoramic view of Eralith at dusk. I paused in front of a railing, staring out at the waves crashing in the distance.  
I heard the door slide open and turned slightly to see Ren walking towards me. He smiled and had a pink flower in his hand as he approached. He joined me next to the railing and carefully slipped it into my hair carefully. I smiled at him and he pulled me into a gentle embrace.  
I had finally found everything I had ever wanted. Monk Athos and the others may have been gone, but Ren, and Kole, and Alana, and everyone else were still here. They were my family, and always would be. They were my present, and my future. It was time to let go of the past and embrace my destiny, whatever it may be.  
Ren leaned in for a kiss and I deepened it.  
We continued to kiss under the orange and purple sky, knowing that whatever came at us, we would face it together from now on and till the end of forever.

The End


End file.
